Question

1. A costume designer made 10 costumes that each used 5.8 yards of fabric. If she had 238.2 yards of fabric to start with, about how much fabric does the costume designer have left? Write an equation and estimate the amount of fabric left.
2. A costume went to a garden shop and bought some potting soil for $12.50 and 6 shrubs. If the total bill was $71.00, how much did each shrub cost if they all cost the same?

Answer 1

 You only need an estimate? Great. Think of the necessary material as 6 yards, so ten costumes would take 60 yards. Then think of the fabric on hand as 240 yards, so taking 60 yards away from that would leave [an estimated] 180 yards of fabric. 

For an equation, use: 

F" = F' - 5.8 C 

Where F' is the initial fabric stock, F" is the remaining fabric, and C is the count of costumes. 

In exact numbers, the formula works out to: 

F" = 238.2 - (5.8 * 10) 

F" = 180.2 

The estimate was very close. 

Good luck.