how do I set up an equation for this?
Lisa has $215 saved. She plans to save $125 every month so that she can have enough money to buy a new sofa. The sofa costs $1498, including tax. How many months will she need to save to be able to buy the sofa?
1498 - 215 = 1283
1283 / 125 = ?
To set up an equation for this problem, let's break it down step-by-step.
First, we need to calculate the total amount of money Lisa needs to save to be able to buy the sofa. Given that the sofa costs $1498, we need to consider the amount Lisa already has saved. So, the total amount she needs to save is $1498 - $215 = $1283.
Next, we need to determine how many months Lisa will need to save in order to reach this total amount. We know Lisa plans to save $125 every month. Let's represent the number of months she needs to save as "m."
Therefore, the equation to represent this situation is: 125m = 1283.
In this equation, 125 represents the amount of money Lisa saves every month, and 1283 represents the total amount she needs to save to buy the sofa.
To solve for "m," we can divide both sides of the equation by 125:
m = 1283/125.
Using long division or a calculator, we can find that m ≈ 10.264.
Since we can't have a fractional number of months, we need to round up to the nearest whole number. Therefore, Lisa will need to save for approximately 11 months to have enough money to buy the sofa.