Question 147633
One approach:
Let x=number of nickels---------------5x=amount of nickels
Then 12-x=number of pennies---1(12-x)=amount of pennies
And we are told that the above amounts totals 32 cents so our equation to solve:

5x+(12-x)=32 or
5x+12-x=32  subtract 12 from each side
5x+12-12-x=32-12 collect like terms
4x=20  divide each side by 4
x=5------------------------------------number of nickels

12-x=12-5=7-------------------------------number of pennies

CK
5*5+7*1=32
25+7=32
32=32

Another approach:

Let x=number of nickels
And let y=number of pennies

Now we are told the following
x+y=12------------------------------------eq1
5x+y=32------------------------------------eq2

subtract eq1 from eq2 and we get:
4x=20
etc.


Hope this helps---ptaylor