Question

Kevin and Randy Muise have a jar containing 53 coins, all of which are either quarters or nickels. The total value of the coins in the jar is $10.25. How many of each type of coin do they have?
The jar contains ____ quarters.
The jar contains ____ nickels.

Answer 1

So here is how you'll get the answer.
Let x be the number of quarters in the jar. 
Then 53-x is the number of nickels in the jar. 
We also know .25x + 0.05 (53-x) = 10.25
So next, we solve for x.
.25x + 2.65 - 0.05x = 10.25
0.2x +2.65 = 10.25
0.2x = 10.25 -2.65
0.2x = 7.40
x =37
Therefore, there are 37 quarters in the jar.
53-37 is 16. So there are 16 nickels in the jar.
Hope this answer helps.