Answer:
Suit: $13; Shoes: $8
Step-by-step explanation:
Represent the unknowns (which are commissions on the sale of suits and shoes) by u and h.
The associate earned a commission of $47 the first week. That $47 represents the sum of the commission earned from selling suits and the commission earned from selling shoes.
We can represent this fact as follows:
3u + 1h = $47 (3 times the commission for selling 1 suit)
The appropriate equation describing the situation in the second week follows:
7u + 2h = $107
Now we have two linear equations in two unknowns, enough to enable us to calculate the commissions on selling suits and shoes.
3u + 1h = $47
7u + 2h = $107
We are to solve this system using the substitution method. The easiest approach here is to solve the first equation for h: h = $47 - 3u
and
then replace h in the second equation by $47 - 3u:
7u + 2($47 - 3u) = $107
Performing the indicated multiplication, we get 7u + $94 - 6u = $107
Simplifying this results in u + $94 = $107, and subtracting $94 from both sides reduces this equation to u = $13.
Thus, the commission on selling a suit is $13.
The commission on selling a pair of shoes is obtained from subbing $13 for u in the very first equation (3u + 1h = $47): 3($13) + h = $47. Subtracting $39 from both sides results in $8 = h. The commission on selling a pair of shoes is $8.
