document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=82013>Question 82013</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Mike, a salvation army bell ringer, has 5 fewer quarters than nickels in his cup. If Mike has $5.95 in quarters and nickels, how many nickels does he have?\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "I need help extracting the algebraic equation from this story problem. </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #58811 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=ptaylor><B>ptaylor(2198)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=ptaylor><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=ptaylor><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=58811\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Let x=number of nickels in Mike's cup<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Then x-5=number of quarters in Mike's cup\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Let's now deal in pennies to make life a little more simple.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "5x=amount of money that Mike has from the nickels\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "25(x-5)=amount of money that Mike has from the quarters\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "We are told that this adds up to 595.  So our algebraic equation is:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "5x+25(x-5)=595  get rid of parens (Now as you well know, if we want to deal in dollars, we can just as easily write this equation as:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "0.05x+0.25(x-5)=5.95), but lets continue to deal in pennies\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "5x+25x-125=595  add 125 to both sides<BR>\n" );
document.write( "5x+25x-125+125=595+125  collect like terms\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "30x=720  divide both sides by 30<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x=24------------------------------------number of nickels\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "x-5=24-5=19---------------------------------number of quarters\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "CK<BR>\n" );
document.write( "24(0.05)+19(0.25)=5.95<BR>\n" );
document.write( "1.20+4.75=5.95<BR>\n" );
document.write( "5.95=5.95\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Hope this helps----ptaylor\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( " </SPAN>\n" );
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