SOLUTION: Jill has $3.50 in nickels and dimes. If she has 50 coins, how many of each type of coin does she have? Nickels: Dimes:

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Question 81160: Jill has $3.50 in nickels and dimes. If she has 50 coins, how many of each type of coin does she have?
Nickels:
Dimes:
Answer by tutor_paul(427) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This is a problem with 2 equations and 2 unknowns. Any time you have at least as many equations as you have unknowns, you can solve the problem!
Let N= number of Nickels
Let D= number of Dimes
From the given information, you know:
Equation #1: 0.05N%2B0.1D=3.5
The 0.05 is the value (in dollars) of 1 Nickel, and 0.1 is the value (in dollars) of 1 Dime.
Since you know Jill has 50 coins, you can form the second equation from this information:
Equation #2: N%2BD=50
Now you have your 2 equations and 2 unknowns, so you are good to go!
First, solve Equation #2 for D:
D=50-N
Now that uou have this expression for D, substitute it into Equation #1 and solve for N:
0.05N%2B0.1%2850-N%29=3.5
0.05N%2B5-0.1N=3.5
0.05N-0.1N=-1.5
-0.05N=-1.5
highlight%28N=30%29
Now that you have a value for N, substitute that in to Equation #2 and solve for D:
N%2BD=50
30%2BD=50
highlight%28D=20%29
Good Luck,
tutor_paul@yahoo.com