During the day, Sam spent $4.85 on lunch. He also bought 2 books for $7.95 each. At the end of the day, he had $8.20 left. How much money did he start with?

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Answer 1 · 2016-12-20T13:25:33

Sam started the day with $28.95

Let's call the amount of money Sam start with #m#.

Now, taking each phrase one at a time we can build an equation for solving #m#:

He spent $4.85 on lunch so we know:

#m = $4.85#

Plus, he bought 2 books at $7.95 each or #2 xx $7.95# so we can add to the equation:

#m = $4.85 + (2 xx $7.95)#

And finally, we know he had $8.20 left at the end of the day so we can add this to our equation:

#m = $4.85 + (2 xx $7.95) + 8.20#

Now we can solve by doing the necessary arithmetic:

#m = $4.85 + $15.90 + 8.20#

#m = $20.75 + 8.20#

#m = $28.95#