SOLUTION: I am horrible at word problems and could really use some help. My problem reads: Sally bought three chocolate bars and a pack of gum and paid $1.75. Jake bought two chocolate bars

Question 121088: I am horrible at word problems and could really use some help. My problem reads: Sally bought three chocolate bars and a pack of gum and paid $1.75. Jake bought two chocolate bars and four packs of gum and paid $2.00. Find the cost of a chocolate bar and the cost of a pack of gum. Thanks!
Answer by nabla(475) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let chocolate bars=x, and gum=y. You can now form the following system of equations and solve via a few methods, here I will show you how to use row operations (you could more easily just use substitution, but I will leave that up to you):

Simplify the second equation by dividing both sides by 2:

Take 1/3 the first equation:

Subtract the first equation from the second equation:

We can now simplify for y:

Now, subtract (1/3) of equation two from the first equation:

Giving us the solution set S={1/2,1/4}.
To check,
1.
2.
Note that the chocolate bars cost $0.50, and the packs of gum cost $0.25.
If you have further difficulty, E-mail me by going to my "me" page.
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