Youssef is taking a trip on an airplane. He knows that to avoid extra fees his suitcase must weigh under 50 pounds. The suitcase with his clothes weighs 35 pounds. He has room, so he decides to pack some books for his trip, too. Each book weighs on average 1.2 pounds. How many books could he bring on the trip? He writes the inequality 1.2b + 35 < 50, where b equals the number of books, to help figure this out. Solve his inequality. Use the letter b as your variable and write your b term first.
To solve the inequality 1.2b + 35 < 50, we first subtract 35 from both sides to isolate the term with b:
1.2b < 15
Next, we divide both sides by 1.2 to solve for b:
b < 15 / 1.2
b < 12.5
Therefore, Youssef could bring a maximum of 12 books on his trip.