Liam bought a comic book and had $5 left. If he had a total of $8 walking into the store, how much did he spend on the comic book?
Liam used the equation 5x=8 to model the problem. He said that x represents the amount of money he spent. Liam said that the solution, x=1.6, means that he spent $1.60. Is he correct? Why or why not? If he is incorrect find the correct answer showing your work.
8 - 5 = x
To find out how much Liam spent on the comic book, we need to solve the equation 5x = 8, where x represents the amount of money he spent.
To solve for x, we divide both sides of the equation by 5:
5x/5 = 8/5
x = 8/5
Therefore, x = 1.6 or 1 3/5.
However, in this context, it is important to consider that money is usually counted in whole units or in cents. It is uncommon to see amounts like $1.60 expressed as a fraction or a mixed number.
Therefore, to express the solution in a more practical way, we can say that Liam spent $1.60 on the comic book. So, in this case, Liam is correct.