Question

Sal keeps quarters, nicles, and dimes in his change jar. He has a total pf 52 coins. He has three more quarters than dimes and five fewer nicles than dimes. How many dimes does Sal have?

a 13
b 18
c 20
d 21

Answer 1

You can try trial and error.

a. 16 quarters, 13 dimes, 8 nickles = 37 coins <i>Nope. That isn't the answer.</i>

Keep going til you find the right answer.

Answer 2

Let x = number of dimes. Since the value of the coins does not matter, the quarters = x + 3, dimes = x and nickels = x-5.

(x + 3) + x + (x - 5) = 52

Solve for x.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.