Caroline bought snacks for her team’s practice. She bought a bag of oranges for $2.21 and a 3-pack of juice bottles. The total cost before tax was $9.38. Write and solve an equation which can be used to determine z, how much each bottle of juice cost.
The correct answer and explanation is:
To solve this problem, we need to determine the cost of each juice bottle, represented by zz. We know that Caroline spent $9.38 before tax, with $2.21 spent on a bag of oranges. The remaining amount was spent on the 3-pack of juice bottles.
Let’s break down the total cost equation:
- Total cost of oranges: $2.21
- Total cost of juice bottles: Since there are 3 bottles, the total cost for the juice bottles is 3z3z, where zz represents the cost of one bottle.
- Total cost before tax: $9.38
Now we can set up the equation based on the total cost: 2.21+3z=9.382.21 + 3z = 9.38
Next, we solve for zz:
- Subtract the cost of the oranges from both sides of the equation to isolate the juice bottles cost:
3z=9.38−2.213z = 9.38 – 2.21 3z=7.173z = 7.17
- Now divide both sides by 3 to solve for zz:
z=7.173z = \frac{7.17}{3} z=2.39z = 2.39
Thus, each bottle of juice costs $2.39.
Explanation:
The equation represents the breakdown of the total amount Caroline spent. First, she spent $2.21 on oranges, leaving the remaining amount for the juice. By subtracting the cost of the oranges from the total, we find the cost allocated for the 3-pack of juice. Dividing by 3 gives the cost of each individual juice bottle. This process is a straightforward application of algebra, using basic operations like subtraction and division to isolate and solve for the unknown variable zz.