Question

SALES Ling can spend no more than $120 at the summer sale of a department store. She wants to buy shirts on sale for $15 each. How do you write and solve an inequality to determine the number of shirts she can buy?

Answer 1

The inequality is `15x <= 120`, and she can buy at most `8` shirts.

Explanation:

Let's split this word problem up.

"no more" refers to the number or less than that, or `<=`.

So whatever Ling buys has to be `<= 120`.

She wants to buy an UNKNOWN number of shirts for `$15` each.

So we set that UNKNOWN value to `x`, and form an inequality:

`15x <= 120`

To solve for `x`, we divide both sides by `color(red)15`:
`(15x)/color(red)15 <= 120/color(red)15`

Therefore,
`x <= 8`

She can buy at most `8` shirts.

Hope this helps!