SOLUTION: An average bagel contains 30 mg of calcium and 2 mg of iron. One ounce of cream cheese contains 25 mg of calcium and 0.4 mg of iron. If Leyla wants to eat a combination of bagels a

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Question 1100352: An average bagel contains 30 mg of calcium and 2 mg of iron. One ounce of cream cheese contains 25 mg of calcium and 0.4 mg of iron. If Leyla wants to eat a combination of bagels and cream cheese that contains exactly 370 mg of calcium and 12 mg of​ iron, how much of each should she​ eat?
How many bagels does she need to eat?
How many ounces of cream cheese does she need?

Found 2 solutions by richwmiller, jim_thompson5910:
Answer by richwmiller(17219) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
1) 30b+25c=370
2) 2b+.4c=12
Let's solve by elimination.
multiply equation 2 by 15
30b+.4*15*c=12*15
simplify
3) 30b+6c=180
subtract 3) from 1)
30b+25c=370
30b+6c=180
solve for c
19c=370-180
19c=190
c=10 oz cream cheese
substitute c into equation 2)
2b+.4*10=12
2b+4=12
2b=8
b=4 bagels

Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Let,
x = number of bagels she needs to eat (this is a positive whole number)
y = amount, in ounces, of cream cheese she needs to eat (this is some positive number which could be a whole number or a decimal number)

"An average bagel contains 30 mg of calcium" and "One ounce of cream cheese contains 25 mg of calcium". So if Leyla eats x bagels and y ounces of cream cheese, then she'll consume 30x+25y mg of calcium in total. She needs 370 mg of calcium meaning that the first equation is 30x+25y = 370

The second equation is 2x+0.4y = 12 because
she gets 2 mg of iron from each bagel, so 2*x mg of iron from all the bagels she eats
she also gets 0.4 mg of iron per ounce of cream cheese, giving another sub-total of 0.4*y mg of iron
Overall she consumes 2x+0.4y mg of iron. This amount must be equal to 12 as this is the target value for iron.

The two equations in this system are
30x+25y = 370
2x+0.4y = 12

Let's solve the second equation for x
2x+0.4y = 12
2x+0.4y-0.4y = 12-0.4y subtract 0.4y from both sides
2x = 12-0.4y
2x/2 = (12-0.4y)/2 divide both sides by 2 to isolate x
x = (12/2)-(0.4y/2)
x = 6-0.2y

Then plug this into the first equation
30x+25y = 370
30*(x)+25y = 370
30*(6-0.2y)+25y = 370 x has been replaced with 6-0.2y

Next we isolate y
30*(6-0.2y)+25y = 370
30*(6)+30*(-0.2y)+25y = 370 distribute
180-6y+25y = 370
180+19y = 370
180+19y-180 = 370-180 subtract 180 from both sides
19y = 190
19y/19 = 190/19 divide both sides by 19 to get y all by itself
y = 10

Use this value of y to find x
x = 6-0.2y
x = 6-0.2*10 replace y with 10
x = 6-2
x = 4
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In summary we get
x = 4
y = 10
Recall that at the top of the problem, we let,
x = number of bagels she needs to eat
y = amount, in ounces, of cream cheese she needs to eat

So Leyla needs to eat 4 bagels and 10 ounces of cream cheese to reach her goal (of consuming exactly 370 mg of calcium and 12 mg of iron)