Question

You have $18 to buy pepper. Peppers cost $1.50 each. How do you write and solve an inequality that represents the number of peppers you can buy?

Answer 1

`18.00 <= N_p xx 1.50`
The solution is `N_p <= 12`

Explanation:

An "inequality" is just an equality (sometimes easier to write out) with a limit on one side or another. In this case the practical problem is that you have a limited budget, so just how many pepper can you buy?

The general equation (equality) relating the total cost to the number of peppers at that price is:
`"Cost" = N_p xx 1.50`

Now, we replace "cost" with our budget limit:
`18.00 = N_p xx 1.50`
Finally, we make it an inequality to indicate that we cannot have a solution (`N_p`) that exceeds our budget amount.
`18.00 <= N_p xx 1.50`
The solution is `N_p <= 12`