I had a problem to solve, and I don't get how to make equations from this problem.


Mrs. Chans math class contributed 2 dollars and $1 coins to an earthquake relief fund. the number of $1 coins contributed was 8 less than 5 times the number of $2 coins contributed. if class raised total of 160 bucks, how many coins of each type was collected?

This also has to be solved by the elimination method, but what equations do I have to work with?

I don't know how to solve using 2 equations, but I can solve it using one equation

n = $2.00 coins
5n - 8 = $1.00 coins
2.00n = value of $2.00 coins
1.00(5n - 8) = value of $1.00 coins

2.00n + 1.00(5n - 8) = 160.00
2.00n + 5.00n - 8.00 = 160.00
7.00n = 168.00
n = 24

24 coins @ $2.00 = $48.00
5(24)- 8 = 112 coins @ 1.00 = $112.00

Thanks a lot :)

you're welcome

To solve this problem using the elimination method, you will need to set up a system of equations based on the information given.

Let's assign variables to represent the unknowns. Let:
x = the number of $2 coins contributed
y = the number of $1 coins contributed

From the problem, we are given two pieces of information:

1) "The number of $1 coins contributed was 8 less than 5 times the number of $2 coins contributed."
We can write this as an equation:
y = 5x - 8

2) "The class raised a total of 160 bucks."
Since each $2 coin contributes $2 to the total and each $1 coin contributes $1 to the total, we can write this as an equation:
2x + y = 160

Now we have a system of two equations:
Equation 1: y = 5x - 8
Equation 2: 2x + y = 160

You can now solve this system of equations using the elimination method.