Question 730004
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Mr. Gorman spent $18 on some paintbrushes and colored pencils. 
He bought 4 times as many colored pencils as paintbrushes. 
Each paintbrush cost $3 and each colored pencil cost $0.75. 
How many colored pencils did Mr. Gorman buy?
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        This problem ideally suits to be solved mentally.



<pre>
In accordance with the problem, we can group colored pencils and paintbrushes in sets,
each containing 4 colored pencils and one paintbrush.


Every such group costs 4*0.75 + 3 = 6 dollars, giving the total of 18 dollars.


Hence, the number of such groups is  18/6 = 3.


Hence, the number of colored pencils was  4*3 = 12.    <U>ANSWER</U>
</pre>

Solved.


You can do algebra in the same way - it will lead you to the same answer.