Question

Maya's Coffee Shop makes a blend that is a mixture of two types of coffee. Type A coffee costs Maya $4.55 per pound, and type B coffee costs $5.75 per pound. This month, Maya made 176 pounds of the blend, for a total cost of $898.00. How many pounds of type B coffee did she use?

Answer 1

Set up a system of equations.
When you're shopping you multiply how many of the same item you buy with the item's price. Example if an apple costs 20 cents, 5 apples cost a dollar

4.55A + 5.75B = 898.00 
A+B = 176                  Number of type A and type B total

Get B or A by itself. Let's do B. Subtract A from both sides:
B= 176-A

Plug in B into the other equation.
4.55A + 5.75B = 898.00
4.55A + 5.75(176-A) = 898.00
Solve for A.
4.55A +1012 - 5.75A = 898.00
-1.2A = -114
A = 95

Now you know A, you can find B. Plug A into any equation to get B.
95 + B = 176
B=?