A store is selling ribbon by the yard. Mike bought 8 yards of red ribbon. Each yard cost $3.50. Complete and solve the working equation that represents the amount, a, mike paid for buying 8 yards of ribbon.

a/8 = ____
a = _____ dollars

To find the amount, a, Mike paid for buying 8 yards of ribbon, we can set up the equation:

amount_paid/number_of_yards = cost_per_yard

In this case, Mike paid a certain amount of money (a) for 8 yards of ribbon, and each yard cost $3.50. We can plug these values into the equation:

a/8 = $3.50

To solve for a, we can multiply both sides of the equation by 8:

8 * (a/8) = 8 * $3.50
a = $28

Therefore, Mike paid $28 for buying 8 yards of ribbon.