Fill in the blanks!

Clara is planning a party. She has budgeted $30 to spend on sandwiches that cost $2.50 per
person, $25 to spend on drinks that cost $1.50 per person, and $25 to spend on gift bags that
cost $3 per person. How much money will Clara have left over if x people attend the party,
including herself?

Food: 30 - _
Drinks: 25 - 1.5x
Gifts: _ - 3x

Combine the expression.

(30 - 2.5x) + (25 - 1.5x) + (25 - 3x)
30 + 25 + 25 - 2.5x _ - 3x
80 + x (_)
_

This represents the amount of money of the $80 she originally budgeted that she would have left over.
So if 5 friends, including herself, came to the party, she'd have $_ remaining.

1 answer

Let's fill in the blanks step by step:

  1. For sandwiches, the total cost will be \(2.5x\), so the expression becomes: \[ 30 - 2.5x \]

  2. For drinks, we already have: \[ 25 - 1.5x \]

  3. For gifts, the total cost will be \(3x\), so we rewrite it as: \[ 25 - 3x \]

Now, let's combine the expressions: \[ (30 - 2.5x) + (25 - 1.5x) + (25 - 3x) \]

This simplifies to: \[ 30 + 25 + 25 - 2.5x - 1.5x - 3x \]

Combining the constants: \[ 80 - (2.5x + 1.5x + 3x) \]

Combine the coefficients of \(x\): \[ 80 - (2.5 + 1.5 + 3)x = 80 - 7x \]

So, we have: \[ 80 - 7x \]

Now, this represents the amount of money of the $80 she originally budgeted that she would have left over.

If 5 friends, including herself, came to the party, that means \(x = 6\) (because she is included in the count). Now we can substitute \(x = 6\) into the expression:

\[ 80 - 7(6) = 80 - 42 = 38 \]

So, if 5 friends, including herself, come to the party, she'd have $38 remaining.

Final sentence: So if 5 friends, including herself, came to the party, she'd have $38 remaining.