At a local grocery store, lemons are 52 cents each and limes are 21 cents each. How many lemons and limes can you buy for exactly $3.75?
6 lemons and 3 limes
To find out how many lemons and limes you can buy for exactly $3.75, we need to set up a system of equations.
Let's use "x" to represent the number of lemons.
The cost of x lemons is 0.52 * x cents.
Let's use "y" to represent the number of limes.
The cost of y limes is 0.21 * y cents.
According to the problem, the total cost is exactly $3.75, which is 375 cents.
So, we have two equations:
0.52x + 0.21y = 375 ---(1)
x + y = ? ---(2) (We need to find the value that gives us $3.75)
To solve this system, we can use substitution or elimination.
Let's use elimination:
Multiply equation (2) by 0.21 to make coefficients of x in both equations equal:
0.21x + 0.21y = 0.21 * ? ---(3)
Now, subtract equation (3) from equation (1):
0.52x + 0.21y - 0.21x - 0.21y = 375 - 0.21 * ?
0.31x = 375 - 0.21 * ?
Simplify it to:
0.31x = 375 - 0.21 * ?
Now, solve for x by plugging in the given values until the right side of the equation is a multiple of 0.31.
After finding x, you can substitute it back into equation (2) to find y and get your final answer of how many lemons and limes can be bought for exactly $3.75.