Question

Alex stocks up for winter. He buys 36 cans of vegetable. He pays 80 cents per can for tomatoes and 40 cents per can for corn, for a total cost of $20.80. how many cans of tomatoes does he buy?

Answer 1

16 cans of tomatoes and 20 cans of corn

Explanation:

Define:
`color(white)("XXXX")t =` number of cans of tomatoes
`color(white)("XXXX")c =` number of cans of corn

We are told
[1]`color(white)("XXXX")t+c = 36`
[2]`color(white)("XXXX")80t+40c =2080`
Note that [2] can be simplified (by dividing by 40) to give
[3]`color(white)("XXXX")2t+c= 52`

Subtracting [1] from [3]
[4]`color(white)("XXXX")t=16`

Substituting `16` for `t` in [1]
[5]`color(white)("XXXX")16+c=36`
`rarr`[6]`color(white)("XX")c=20`

(P.S. can you tell me where Alex is buying his canned vegetables? I haven't been able to find any this cheap for decades.)