Laila is laying a path down for a new driveway. The store has three types of paver stones that will work for her space. She needs to know which paver is the best price. Paver 1 costs $1.49 each, and she will need twice as many as paver 2 and half as many as paver 3. Paver 2 costs $2.50 each. Paver 3 costs $0.75. Which paver will be the best buy? Your answer should be a number.(1 point)

Question

Paver __

Answer 1

To find out which paver is the best buy, let's denote the number of paver stones needed for each type:

• Let \( x \) be the number of paver 2 stones.
• Then, the number of paver 1 stones needed is \( 2x \).
• The number of paver 3 stones is \( \frac{x}{2} \).

Next, we calculate the total cost for each type of paver based on the quantity needed:

1. Cost of paver 1: \[ \text{Cost for paver 1} = 2x \times 1.49 = 2.98x \]

2. Cost of paver 2: \[ \text{Cost for paver 2} = x \times 2.50 = 2.50x \]

3. Cost of paver 3: \[ \text{Cost for paver 3} = \frac{x}{2} \times 0.75 = 0.375x \]

Now we can compare the total costs:

• Total Cost for paver 1: \( 2.98x \)
• Total Cost for paver 2: \( 2.50x \)
• Total Cost for paver 3: \( 0.375x \)

Next, we can find the best price by comparing the coefficients:

• \( 2.98 \) (paver 1)
• \( 2.50 \) (paver 2)
• \( 0.375 \) (paver 3)

Clearly, the smallest cost per unit is for paver 3. Therefore, the best buy is:

Paver 3.