Al and Alice went to a "being a Snack" party. Al spent 10 pennies + 16 dimes. Alice spent as much as Al, but her 26 coins consisted of only quarters and nickels, How many nickels did Alice spend?

q+n = 26

25q+5n = 10*1 + 16*10

25(26-n)+5n = 170
I expect you can take it from there, right?

To find the number of nickels Alice spent, we need to determine how much money Al spent in total.

Al spent 10 pennies + 16 dimes. Since there are 10 pennies in a dime, this is equivalent to 10 pennies + 16 x 10 pennies = 10 + 160 = 170 pennies.

To convert this amount to dollars, we divide by 100 (since there are 100 pennies in a dollar): 170 pennies ÷ 100 = $1.70.

Now we know Al spent $1.70.

Alice spent as much as Al, so she also spent $1.70.

Alice's 26 coins consisted of only quarters and nickels. Let's assume she spent q quarters and n nickels.

The value of q quarters is equal to 25 cents x q = 25q cents.
The value of n nickels is equal to 5 cents x n = 5n cents.

The total value of Alice's coins is the sum of the values of the quarters and nickels: 25q + 5n.

Given that Alice spent $1.70, which is equal to 170 cents, we can set up an equation:

25q + 5n = 170.

We also know that Alice had a total of 26 coins, so we have another equation:

q + n = 26.

To solve these equations simultaneously, we can use substitution or elimination.

Let's use the elimination method, multiplying the second equation by 5 to make the coefficients of n the same:

5q + 5n = 130.

Now we can subtract the two equations:

(25q + 5n) - (5q + 5n) = 170 - 130,
20q = 40.

Dividing both sides by 20:

q = 2.

Substituting q = 2 into the second equation:

2 + n = 26,
n = 24.

Therefore, Alice spent 24 nickels.