Question

At a farmers market strawberries cost $1.60 per pint, blueberries cost $2.30 per pint. A shopper bought twice as many pints of strawberries as pints of blueberries, and spent a total of $11.00. How many pints of each did she buy?

Answer 1

4 pints of strawberries and 2 pints of blueberries are bought

Solution:

Let "a" be the pints of strawberries bought

Let "b" be the pints of blueberries cost

Cost per pint of strawberry = $ 1.60

Cost per pint of blueberry = $ 2.30

A shopper bought twice as many pints of strawberries as pints of blueberries

Therefore,

a = 2b --------- eqn 1

They spent a total of $11.00. Therefore we frame a equation as:

pints of strawberries bought x Cost per pint of strawberry + pints of blueberries cost x Cost per pint of blueberry = 11

$a \times 1.60 + b \times 2.30 = 11$

1.6a + 2.3b = 11 --------- eqn 2

Substitute eqn 1 in eqn 2

1.6(2b) + 2.3b = 11

3.2b + 2.3b = 11

5.5b = 11

Divide both sides by 11

b = 2

Substitute b = 2 in eqn 1

a = 2(2)

a = 4

Thus 4 pints of strawberries and 2 pints of blueberries are bought