The Westford High School science department can spend no more than $4,700 on textbooks this year. The department needs to buy both Biology textbooks, which cost $93.59 apiece, and Chemistry textbooks, which cost $68.17 apiece.

Question

Write the inequality in standard form that describes this situation. Use the given numbers and the following variables.
x = the number of Biology textbooks
y = the number of Chemistry textbooks

Answer 1

To formulate the inequality that describes the budget constraint for the Westford High School science department, we can express it using the variables given:

• Let \( x \) represent the number of Biology textbooks.
• Let \( y \) represent the number of Chemistry textbooks.

The cost of the Biology textbooks is $93.59 each, and the cost of the Chemistry textbooks is $68.17 each. The total expenditure should not exceed $4,700.

This can be represented by the inequality:

\[ 93.59x + 68.17y \leq 4700 \]

To rewrite this in standard form (which typically has integer coefficients), we can multiply the entire inequality by 100 to eliminate the decimals:

\[ 9359x + 6817y \leq 470000 \]

Thus, the standard form of the inequality is:

\[ 9359x + 6817y \leq 470000 \]