Question

Amy wants to get a new video game that costs $500! She has $100 saved up already and decided to save up a portion of her allowance, which is $50, every week. How many weeks should Amy save so she can buy the video game. use x as your variable

Answer 1

Let's define the amount of money Amy needs to save up to buy the video game.

1. The total cost of the video game is $500.
2. Amy already has $100 saved up.
3. Let \( x \) be the number of weeks Amy will save her allowance.
4. Amy saves $50 each week.

The equation representing the total amount of money Amy will have after \( x \) weeks is:

\[
\text{Total amount} = \text{initial savings} + \text{savings from allowance}
\]
\[
\text{Total amount} = 100 + 50x
\]

To find out how many weeks \( x \) Amy needs to save to afford the video game, we set up the equation:

\[
100 + 50x = 500
\]

Now, we can solve for \( x \):

1. Subtract 100 from both sides:

\[
50x = 500 - 100
\]
\[
50x = 400
\]

2. Divide both sides by 50:

\[
x = \frac{400}{50}
\]
\[
x = 8
\]

So, Amy needs to save for **8 weeks** to be able to buy the video game.