Talking with my niece this afternoon who is a sophomore in HS and started discussing math problems. She threw his question at me and for the life of me the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense. So now I need the help of all the NJGF math gurus out here to figure it out.

 

Please show your work...lol

 

Suzy walks into a store with $50. She buys a shampoo and lipstick, the lipstick is 2x the cost of the shampoo. She spends half the remaining money on a purse and leaves with $15. How much does each item cost?

 

...I hate math...

Well if she spent half the remaining an left with 15 then the purse was also 15 the lipstick and the shampoo don't work out unles it's late and in to "tired"

 

 

Sent from my hidden under ground bunker between Taco Bell and the dry cleaner

Shampoo = x

Lipstick = 2x

x + 2x = 20

x = 6.6666666

Shampoo = $6.67

Lipstick = $13.33

S = $6.67

L = $13.33

 

Here's the explanation:

 

She has $15, which is what is left when she spent half her money on the purse, so before she spent that, she had $30.

 

She started off with 50 and spent $20 on the lipstick and shampoo.

 

The next step is the classic scenario of when questions hide the essence of the question by introducing lots of words. If I told you this part was all about simultaneous equations, would that help?

 

Normally lipstick and shampoo are 2 separate things, but a relationship has been established in the question for them: the shampoo is half the cost of the lipstick. We can assign any letter we like but "L" seems appropriate for lipstick.

 

S = 0.5L

 

Now we know that she spent $20 on lipstick and shampoo, we can create an equation.

20 = L + S

 

We can substitute the S for 0.5 L using the relationship established earlier:

 

20 = L + 0.5L

 

This is the same as writing 20 = 1.5L

 

Then, simply divide both sides by 1.5 to get the price of L which is $13.33.

 

We already know that S = 0.5L, but now you know the value for L you can rewrite it as:

 

S = 13.33 * 0.5

 

Which is a simple multiplication: S = $6.67

 

If you really want, we can over complicate things by writing an equation for everything:

 

x = money she has left after all her purchases

y = starting money

b = cost of the bag

s = shampoo

l = lipstick

 

x = y - s - l - b

15 = 50 - s - l - b

b = x = 15

15 = 50 - 15 - s - l

15 = 35 - s - l

s + l = 20

 

Straight from ask.com

Ahhh right.

S = $6.67

L = $13.33

 

Here's the explanation:

 

She has $15, which is what is left when she spent half her money on the purse, so before she spent that, she had $30.

 

She started off with 50 and spent $20 on the lipstick and shampoo.

 

The next step is the classic scenario of when questions hide the essence of the question by introducing lots of words. If I told you this part was all about simultaneous equations, would that help?

 

Normally lipstick and shampoo are 2 separate things, but a relationship has been established in the question for them: the shampoo is half the cost of the lipstick. We can assign any letter we like but "L" seems appropriate for lipstick.

 

S = 0.5L

 

Now we know that she spent $20 on lipstick and shampoo, we can create an equation.

20 = L + S

 

We can substitute the S for 0.5 L using the relationship established earlier:

 

20 = L + 0.5L

 

This is the same as writing 20 = 1.5L

 

Then, simply divide both sides by 1.5 to get the price of L which is $13.33.

 

We already know that S = 0.5L, but now you know the value for L you can rewrite it as:

 

S = 13.33 * 0.5

 

Which is a simple multiplication: S = $6.67

 

If you really want, we can over complicate things by writing an equation for everything:

 

x = money she has left after all her purchases

y = starting money

b = cost of the bag

s = shampoo

l = lipstick

 

x = y - s - l - b

15 = 50 - s - l - b

b = x = 15

15 = 50 - 15 - s - l

15 = 35 - s - l

s + l = 20

 

Straight from ask.com

 

What

Does lipstick really cost that much?

 

Women are a mystery. Worse than math.

Does lipstick really cost that much?

 

 

That is why you should feel no guilt in buying gun stuff, haha

I never do

Does lipstick really cost that much?

 

 

Now it does with the impending ban...

I never do

 

That's right

But can Suzy balance her check book?

 

If we taught some of our students more practical real.life math in lieu of this kind of stuff maybe.just maybe

we.might be doing them a favor...... BUT that is a question for another thread....

 

True

This thread reminds me of how much I don't like math.

X=price of shampoo

 

50=1x + 2 x + (50-3x)/2 + 15

100= 6x + 50-3x+ 30

20=3x

x=20/3

 

Shampoo = $20/3

Lipstick = $40/3

Purse = ($50-$60/3)/2=$30-$15=$15

 

Edited my last term.

X=price of shampoo

 

50=1x + 2 x + (50-3x)/2 + 15

100= 6x + 50-3x+ 30

20=3x

x=20/3

 

Shampoo = $20/3

Lipstick = $40/3

Purse = ($50-$60/3)/2=$30

 

Wtf?

Price of purse = $15 (because she spent half of remaining money and has left $15)

$50-$15(left)-$15(purse)=$20

x+2x=$20

$20/3=$6.67 shampoo

6.67x2=$13.33 lipstick

My brain hurts

 

 

Wtf?

It's called fairly basic algebra...

 

It's called fairly basic algebra...

 

Congrats

Q. If I have 10 ice cubes and you have 11 apples how many pancakes can fit on the roof?

 

A. Purple. Because aliens don't wear hats.

 

Fugg algebra!

Q. If I have 10 ice cubes and you have 11 apples how many pancakes can fit on the roof?

 

A. Purple. Because aliens don't wear hats.

 

Fugg algebra!

 

Lol

I suck at math. This made my brain hurt. Boo algebra

"Suzy walks into a store with $50. She buys a shampoo and lipstick, the lipstick is 2x the cost of the shampoo. She spends half the remaining money on a purse and leaves with $15. How much does each item cost?"

 

Answer: Ask Suzy.

"Suzy walks into a store with $50. She buys a shampoo and lipstick, the lipstick is 2x the cost of the shampoo. She spends half the remaining money on a purse and leaves with $15. How much does each item cost?"

 

 

 

 

Answer: Ask Suzy.

 

I see what u did there...lol

Hmmm... What if we put this into terms we can relate to...

 

Jimmy-Bob walks into Cabellas with $50. He buys a can of CLP and cotton patches, the cotton patches are 2x the cost of the can of CLP. He spends half the remaining money on a 15/20 PMAG and leaves with $15. How much does each item cost?

 

...I still hate math...

Hmmm... What if we put this into terms we can relate to...

 

Jimmy-Bob walks into Cabellas with $50. He buys a can of CLP and cotton patches, the cotton patches are 2x the cost of the can of CLP. He spends half the remaining money on a 15/20 PMAG and leaves with $15. How much does each item cost?

 

...I still hate math...

 

Either he is buying an absolute assload of cotton patches, or that can of CLP is Smurf-sized.

Cabelas has Pmags for $15?

Why do they torture students with these questions, it is so impractical. Maybe the teacher should ask to see the receipt.

Cabelas has Pmags for $15?

 

Yeah, screw the math. Where the hell is that Cabela's?!