Question

The thickness of each type of coin is shown in the table. How much thicker is stack of dollars worth of nickels than a dollars worth of quarters? Explain your answer

Answer 1

Let our basis be worth 1 dollar. A nickel's worth is $0.05. In order to come up with $1, the number of nickels should be:

Number of nickels = $1 * 1 nickel/$0.05 = 20 nickels
Thickness of 20 nickels = 20 nickels * 1.95 mm = 39 mm

Let's do the same for the quarters. Each quarter is worth $0.25.

Number of quarters = $1 * 1 quarter/$0.25 = 4 quarters
Thickness of 4 quarters = 4 quarters * 1.75 mm = 7 mm

Find the ratio of the two:
39 mm/7 mm = 5.57

Therefore, a stack of nickels is 5.57 times thicker than a stack of quarters worth one dollar.