Word problem, help!

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bhatfield

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the total cost of a jacket and a sweater was $99.13. If the price of the jacket was $4.75 less than the sweater, what was the price of the jacket? Write the answer to the nearest cent.

I tried to do it, and had no idea how.
 
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Show us what you tried.

Make sure that you start out by assigning symbols to represent the unknown stuff (i.e., the prices) followed by stating which of your symbol choices represents each price.

It's also possible to define both prices using only one symbol, but I'll wait to see what you come up with before discussing that.

The symbols will be used to build expressions that will be used to form an equation that can be solved for one of the prices. Once you know either price, the other price will be obvious.
 
mmm4444bot said:
Show us what you tried.

Make sure that you start out by assigning symbols to represent the unknown stuff (i.e., the prices) followed by stating which of your symbol choices represents each price.

It's also possible to define both prices using only one symbol, but I'll wait to see what you come up with before discussing that.

The symbols will be used to build expressions that will be used to form an equation that can be solved for one of the prices. Once you know either price, the other price will be obvious.
Click to expand...



I subtracted $4.75 from $99.13 of the sweater and got $94.38 for the price of the jacket. That's what I tried.
 
$99.13 is not the price of the sweater. The price of the sweater is unknown.

$99.13 is what you get when the two prices are added together.

Can you pick a letter to represent the unknown price of the sweater?
 
Now that we know x represents the price of the sweater, what might you think the following expression represents?

x - 4.75
 
I'm hoping that you meant "the price of the jacket" and not the jacket itself. ;)

Okay -- we now have the following mathematical expressions for the prices.

x = sweater price

x - 4.75 = jacket price



The exercise gives us their total:

sweater price + jacket price = 99.13

Can you replace the words above (the red ones and the blue ones) with the mathematical expressions that you assigned for them?

If so, you'll have an equation to solve for x.
 
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bhatfield said:
x+x-4.75=99.13
Click to expand...

That's correct.

Your equation models the given information: the sum of one price (x) and the price which is $4.75 less (x-4.75) totals 99.13

Are you able to make an attempt at solving this equation, now that you have it?
 
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x does not equal 20.86

Please show your work. Tutoring goes much quicker that way.
 
Here is the expression on the lefthand side.

x + x - 4.75

Can you simplify this expression?
 
That's correct. So now you have simplified the equation, yes?

Write a new equation, using the simplified lefthand side.

Now think about what you could do to get the 2x term all by itself on the lefthand side.
 
If you think that the sweater costs $2, then you are not really thinking. Please stop guessing.

Also, this is the very last time that I will ask you to show your work.

-4.75 + 2x = 99.13

You want the 2x term all by itself. What next?
 
Whoops my train is pulling into Seattle; I have no more time for teaching tonight. Somebody else will need to help you finish it.

After that, get yourself a face-to-face tutor or talk to your teacher.

Something has gone terribly wrong with your math education.

Cheers 8-)
 
2x - 4.75 = 99.13

We cannot isolate x until we first get the 2x term all by itself on the left-hand side. Adding 4.75 to both sides of the equation accomplishes this.

2x = 103.88

Now solve for x by halving each side (i.e., multiply both sides by 1/2).

x = 51.94

What does x represent again? The price of the sweater.

What is the price of the jacket? 51.94 - 4.75, yes?

Sweater: $51.94
Jacket: $47.19

:cool:
 
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