Answer: She should blend 98 lbs of high-quality beans.
She should blend 72 lbs of cheaper beans
Step-by-step explanation:
Let x represent the number of pounds of high quality beans that she should blend.
Let y represent the number of pounds of cheaper beans that she should blend.
She needs to prepare 170 lbs of blended coffee beans. This means that
x + y = 170
She plans to do this by blending together a high-quality bean costing $4.75 per pound and a cheaper bean at $2.00 per pound. The blend would sell for $3.59 per pound. This means that the total cost of the blend would be 3.59×170 = $610.3. This means that
4.75x + 2y = 610.3 - - - - - - - - - -1
Substituting x = 170 - y into equation 1, it becomes
4.75(170 - y) + 2y = 610.3
807.5 - 4.75y + 2y = 610.3
- 4.75y + 2y = 610.3 - 807.5
- 2.75y = - 197.2
y = - 197.2/-2.75 = 71.9
y = 72 pounds
x = 170 - y = 170 - 71.9
x = 98.1
x = 98 pounds
