Story problem

[Brenten]

This is the first time I've tried to do a story problem in over 20yrs. Yeah, go me! =p

A twenty pound mixture of two kinds of candy sells for $30.52. One kind of candy in the mixture sells for $1.35 per pound. The other kind sells for $1.79 per pound. how much of the cheaper priced candy is in the mixture?

So here is what I know.

20 pounds total $30.52
Candy "a" is $1.35 per pound
Candy "b" is $1.79 per pound

My problem is setting up the equation though. I know that ax + bx = $30.52
but how do I weed out the cheaper 'ax' ?

 

[tutor_joel]

It's not ax + bx = 30.52 since a and b are in price per pound. The x value is just pounds and the weight of candies a and b are not equal as this statement suggests.

try ax + by = 30.52 where x is the weight of candy a and y is the weight of candy b. Now, how does x relate to y? Because if you have 2 unknowns, you need two equations. (think total weight)

 

[Denis]

A twenty pound mixture of two kinds of candy sells for $30.52. One kind of candy in the mixture sells for $1.35 per pound. The other kind sells for $1.79 per pound. how much of the cheaper priced candy is in the mixture?

x = pounds @ 1.35; then 20-x = pounds @ 1.79 ; sooooo:
1.35x + 1.79(20-x) = 30.52 : kapish?