SOLUTION: A candy maker wants to make a 60-pound mixture of two candies to sell for $2 per pound. If black licorice bits sells for $1.90 per pound and orange gumdrops sell for $2.20 per poun

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Question 798491: A candy maker wants to make a 60-pound mixture of two candies to sell for $2 per pound. If black licorice bits sells for $1.90 per pound and orange gumdrops sell for $2.20 per pound, how many pounds of each should be used?
Answer by josgarithmetic(39617) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
A candy maker wants to make a M pound mixture of two candies to sell for $T per pound. If black licorice bits sells for $L per pound and orange gumdrops sell for $H per pound, how many pounds of each should be used?

Let u = pounds of the L per pound candy
Let v = pounds of the H per pound candy

and
Solve for u and v.

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The rewritten generalization might be new to a beginning algebra student.
This example question is a mixture problem in which the "concentration" is dollars per pound. If you think of the description and question this way, then thinking through a solution path could be easier. The given problem will become the system of equations:

Let u = pounds of the cheaper candy, and v = pounds of the more expensive candy.
and

Note that the units for the left and right side of the rational equation is in Dollars per Pound. SOLVE FOR u AND v.