Question

eight ears of corn and a cantaloupe cost $2.37. six ears of corn and 3 cantaloupes cost $3.51. what does a cantaloupe cost?

Answer 1

In the given question, there are two vital information's give. Firstly 8 ears of corn and 1 cantaloupe cost $2.37. On the other hand 6 ears of corn and 3 cantaloupes cost $3.51.
Let us assume the cost of 1 corn = X
Let us assume the cost of 1 cantaloupe = Y
Then
8X + Y = 2.37
Y = 2.37 - 8X
And
6X + 3Y = 3.51
Now we replace the value of Y we found from the first equation
Then
6X + 3(2.37 - 8X) = 3.51
6X - 24X + 7.11 = 3.51
-18X = 3.51 - 7.11
-18X = -3.6
X = 3.6/18
   = 0.20
So $0.20 is the value of 1 corn. Then the value of a cantaloupe
Y = 2.37 - 8X
   = 2.37 - (8 * 0.20)
   = 2.37 - 1.6
   = 0.77
So cost of a cantaloupe is $0.77