Question

a customer went to a garden shop and bought some potting soil for 17.50 and shrubs. if the total bill was $71.00, how much did each shurb cost if they all cost the same? write and solve an equation. show your work

Answer 1

You left out the number of shrubs. 
It should be right after "... $17.50 and ___".

I'll just have to call it ' S ' .

-- The total bill was $71 .
   The potting soil cost $17.50 .
   So the shrubs cost ($71 - $17.50) = $53.50 .

-- If each shrub cost the same amount,
   and he bought 'S' shrubs,
   then the price of each shrub was

                           $53.50 / S .

If I knew what ' S ' was, I could solve this equation.