George has $3.60 in quarters and dimes. If he has 13 more quarters than dimes, how many dimes does he have ?
How do I make the equation......?!
How is this one: 3.60x+x+3 ?!!!!!
I hate these problems and I always get them wrong because I don't understand them... could you help me?
Dimes are 10 cents, quarters are 25 cents.
Your equation is the number of them times their value : )
Let x represent the dimes
10x + 25(x + 13) = 360
You can either work in pennies or dollars. This equation is if you work in pennies : )
Use the distributive property and solve for x
nope. Either you write an equation of VALUE, or number of coins. Equations are statements.
Based on number of coins:
If he has 13 more quarters than dimes,
Q-13=D
Based on Value:
.25Q+.10D=$3.60
Now you can so some thinking (with algebra).
.25Q+.10(Q-13)=$3.60
.25Q+.10Q-1.30=3.60 and you solve for number of quarters Q. Then D=Q-13
What I suspect you are doing, is forgetting what the unknows stand for. A common trap is calling the unknown x, without units. I think you would be better off using symbols that mean mean somthing, such as Q, D. And when you read the equation, say what they mean.
To find the number of dimes George has, we can set up an equation based on the given information. Let's assume George has "x" dimes.
Since the problem states that George has 13 more quarters than dimes, the number of quarters he has would be "x + 13".
Now, we can determine the value of the coins. Since a dime is worth $0.10 and a quarter is worth $0.25, the value of the dimes George has is 0.10x, and the value of the quarters is 0.25(x + 13).
According to the problem, the total value of both coins combined is $3.60. We can now form the equation:
0.10x + 0.25(x + 13) = 3.60
Now, we can solve this equation to find the value of x, which represents the number of dimes George has.
number of dimes ---- x
number of quarters ---- x+13
make up an equation that deals with the value of the coins
and solve it for x