Fiona has $18 to spend. She spent $4.25, including tax, to buy a notebook. She needs to save $9.75, but she wants to buy a snack. If crackers cost $0.50 per package including tax, what inequality would show the maximum number of packages that Fiona can buy? Solve your inequality by showing your work and steps.
Let's say that Fiona buys x packages of crackers. Each package costs $0.50, so the total cost of x packages would be 0.50x.
We know that Fiona has $18 to spend and she already spent $4.25 on a notebook, so she has 18 - 4.25 = $<<18-4.25=13.75>>13.75 left to spend and save.
She wants to save $9.75, so the maximum amount she can spend on crackers is $13.75 - $9.75 = $<<13.75-9.75=4>>4.
Therefore, the inequality that shows the maximum number of packages Fiona can buy is 0.50x ≤ 4.
To solve the inequality, we can divide both sides by 0.50 to get:
x ≤ 4 / 0.50
x ≤ 8
So, the maximum number of packages Fiona can buy is 8.