SOLUTION: What 6 coins add up to 32 cents when 2 of them are dimes

As 2 of the 6 coins are dimes, 4 coins are left to make 12 (32 - 20) cents

The 2 cents MUST BE pennies, so the only 2 coins that will make 10 (12 - 2) cents are nickels. Thus we have:

2 dimes totaling:   20 cents

2 pennies totaling:  2 cents

2 nickels totaling: 10 cents 

6 coins totaling:   32 cents



OR



Using algebra, we can solve for the remaining 4 coins that make up 12 cents, since 2 dimes make up 20 cents of the 32 cents



Let the number of pennies, be P, and number of nickels, N

Then coins count equation is: P + N = 4 ------- eq (i), and

Coins-value equation is: .01P + .05N = .12 ---- eq (ii)

You can then solve for P, the number of pennies, and then the number of nickels. This method, however, is a bit more

time-consuming, and so, the above method is better suited since it includes nothing but basic arithmetic and logic.