aretha has $0.58 in nickels and dimes. she has 2 more nickels than dimes. how many and nickels and dimes does she have?
these money word problems are hard. help please.
This one you should be able to figure in your head by trial and error.
If she has three dimes, how many nickels must she have?
What about the pennies?
There is no way you can do this problem without pennies.
wow. you are way older than me.
Sure, I can help with that! Money word problems can be tricky, but by breaking down the problem and using some basic math skills, we can solve it.
Let's represent the number of dimes as "x" and the number of nickels as "x + 2" (since she has 2 more nickels than dimes).
We know that a dime is worth $0.10, so the value of all the dimes can be calculated as 0.10x. Similarly, a nickel is worth $0.05, so the value of all the nickels can be calculated as 0.05(x + 2).
According to the problem, the total value is $0.58. So we can set up the equation:
0.10x + 0.05(x + 2) = 0.58
Now, let's solve the equation step by step:
0.10x + 0.05x + 0.10 = 0.58
0.15x + 0.10 = 0.58
0.15x = 0.58 - 0.10
0.15x = 0.48
Now, divide both sides of the equation by 0.15 to solve for x:
x = 0.48 / 0.15
x = 3.2
Since we can't have a fraction of a dime, that means x must equal a whole number. However, this value is not a whole number, which suggests there might be a mistake.
Let's go back and check our work:
We know that she has 2 more nickels than dimes. So, we need to adjust our equation:
0.10x + 0.05(x + 2) = 0.58
Expanding and simplifying the equation, we get:
0.10x + 0.05x + 0.10 = 0.58
0.15x + 0.10 = 0.58
0.15x = 0.48
x = 0.48 / 0.15
x = 3.2
It seems like we made a mistake by assuming that x must represent the number of dimes. Instead, let's use x to represent the number of nickels and adjust accordingly.
Let's say x represents the number of nickels. That means the number of dimes would be x - 2.
Now, let's solve the equation again:
0.05x + 0.10(x - 2) = 0.58
Expanding and simplifying the equation:
0.05x + 0.10x - 0.20 = 0.58
0.15x - 0.20 = 0.58
0.15x = 0.58 + 0.20
0.15x = 0.78
x = 0.78 / 0.15
x = 5.2
Now that we have the value for x, we can calculate the number of dimes by subtracting 2:
x - 2 = 5.2 - 2 = 3.2
So, Aretha has 5 nickels and 3 dimes.