You have one type of candy that sells for $1.90/lb and another type of candy that sells for $8.90/lb.

Question

You have one type of candy that sells for $1.90/lb and another type of candy that sells for $8.90/lb. You would like to have 49 lbs of a candy mixture that sells for $4.20/lb. How much of each candy will you need to obtain the desired mixture?

You will need

______ lbs of the cheaper candy

and

______ lbs of the expensive candy.

Answer 1

1.8C + 8.9E = 4.2(49)

C+E = 49

1.8C + 1.8E = 1.8(49)

7.1E = 2.4(49)

E = 2.4(49)/7.1 = about 16.56 lbs of the more expensive candy

C = 49-16.56 = about 32.44 lbs of the cheaper candy

1.8(32.4) + 8.9(16.6) = 58.3 + 147.7 = 206

4.2(49) = about 206

1.9 is within 2.3 of 4.2

8.9 is within 4.7 of 4.2

4.7/2.3 = about 2

32.4/16.6 = about 2