SOLUTION: A store has t-shirts on sale at 2 for $5.50. At this rate, what do five T-shirts costs? My solution is: 2 shirts/$5.50 = x/5 shirts => 4 shirts = $22 => 1 shirt = $

Algebra ->  Trigonometry-basics -> SOLUTION: A store has t-shirts on sale at 2 for $5.50. At this rate, what do five T-shirts costs? My solution is: 2 shirts/$5.50 = x/5 shirts => 4 shirts = $22 => 1 shirt = $      Log On


   

Question 113516: A store has t-shirts on sale at 2 for $5.50. At this rate, what do five T-shirts costs?
My solution is:
2 shirts/$5.50 = x/5 shirts
=> 4 shirts = $22
=> 1 shirt = $2.75
=> $22+$2.75 = $24.75
Is that the right formula to get that result?
Found 2 solutions by jim_thompson5910, solver91311:
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We simply have this ratio:
# of T-shirt
------------
price


So if we have 2 t-shirts for $5.50 and 5 t-shirts for x dollars, we'll have this equation: 2%2F5.5=5%2Fx <---Notice the number of t-shirts are the numerators and the prices are the denominators. Since you mixed these up, you got the wrong answer.

2%2F5.5=5%2Fx Start with the given ratio

%282%2F5.5%29%2Ax=5 Multiply both sides by x

2%2Ax=5%2A5.5 Multiply both sides by 5.5

2%2Ax=27.5 Multiply

x=27.5%2F2 Divide both sides by 2


x=13.75 Divide



So x=%2413.75 which means 5 t-shirts cost $13.75.
If you think about it, 5 is almost double of 2. So the price of 5 shirts should be close to double of 2 shirts.

Note: another way you could do this is to multiply the price of one shirt (2.75) by 5 to get

2.75%2A5=13.75


So this gets you the same answer.

Answer by solver91311(24713) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I think you are trying to make this one too difficult.

Let's review your work. In the first place, if you are going to set up a proportion equation, you need to put like things in the numerators and like things in the denominators. That means that if you start with number of shirts in the left hand numerator, you should have number of shirts in the right hand numerator. Therefore, your proportion should have been:

2%2F5.50=5%2Fx.

I'm not sure how you got to 4 shirts = $22 if 2 shirts cost $5.50. 2 times 2 shirts is 4 shirts, so 2 times $5.50 is $11.00, not $22.00.

Your third statement is really the key to the problem. 1 shirt = $2.75. You must have divided $5.50 by 2, which was the correct thing to do.

Now all you have to do is multiply $2.75 by 5 to get the cost of 5 shirts, namely: $13.75. By the way, if you go to the trouble of solving for x in the properly constructed proportion equation, you will get the same answer.

Hope this helps.
John