document.write( "Question 1092935: A supermarket is selling 2 types of candies, orange slices and strawberry leaves. The orange slices cost $1.27 per pound and the strawberry leaves cost $1.77 per pound. How many pounds of each should be mixed to get a 13-pound mixture that sells for $19.01?
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Algebra.Com's Answer #707552 by greenestamps(13200)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! You want 13 pounds of candies. So \n" ); document.write( "let x = pounds of orange slices, at $1.27 per pound \n" ); document.write( "then 13-x = pounds of strawberry leaves, at $1.77 per pound \n" ); document.write( "The total cost of the 13 pounds of candies is $19.01: \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "You need 8 pounds of orange slices and 13-8=5 pounds of strawberry slices. \n" ); document.write( "Now here is a way to solve this kind of problem without using algebra and all those ugly decimals. \n" ); document.write( "The cost of 13 pounds of strawberry leaves would be 13*1.77 = 23.01. \n" ); document.write( "The cost of 13 pounds of orange leaves would be 13*1.27 = 16.51. \n" ); document.write( "The actual cost of the 13 pounds of mixture is 19.01. \n" ); document.write( "Where the 19.01 lies (think of it on a number line) between 16.51 and 23.01 exactly determines the ratio in which the two kinds of candies need to be mixed. \n" ); document.write( "23.01-19.01 = 4.00; \n" ); document.write( "19.01-16.51 = 2.50. \n" ); document.write( "Those two differences tell us that the two candies need to be mixed in the ratio 4.00:2.50, or 8:5. \n" ); document.write( "If there are 13 pounds of candies in the ratio 8:5, then there are 8 pounds of one and 5 pounds of the other. \n" ); document.write( "Since the cost of the mixture is closer to 16.51 than it is to 23.01, the larger amount of candy must be the less expensive kind. \n" ); document.write( "So you need 8 pounds of orange slices and 5 pounds of strawberry leaves. \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |