Question 937121

What 6 coins add up to 32 cents when 2 of them are dimes
<pre>
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
<u>2</u> nickels totaling: <u>10 cents</u> 
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.