Sal keeps quarters, nicles, and dimes in his change jar. He has a total pf 52 coins. He has three more quarters than dimes and five fewer nicles than dimes. How many dimes does Sal have?
a 13
b 18
c 20
d 21
You can try trial and error.
a. 16 quarters, 13 dimes, 8 nickles = 37 coins Nope. That isn't the answer.
Keep going til you find the right answer.
Let x = number of dimes. Since the value of the coins does not matter, the quarters = x + 3, dimes = x and nickels = x-5.
(x + 3) + x + (x - 5) = 52
Solve for x.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
To solve this problem, let's assign variables to the unknown quantities in the problem.
Let's say the number of dimes Sal has is represented by 'D'.
According to the problem, Sal has three more quarters than dimes. So the number of quarters can be represented as 'D + 3'.
Also, Sal has five fewer nickels than dimes. So the number of nickels can be represented as 'D - 5'.
Now, based on the information given, we can form an equation using the total number of coins:
D + (D + 3) + (D - 5) = 52
Let's simplify this equation:
3D - 2 = 52
Adding 2 to both sides:
3D = 54
Dividing both sides by 3:
D = 18
Therefore, Sal has 18 dimes.
So the correct answer is option b) 18.