Question

A customer pays ​$5.45 for oranges and ​$3.57 for pears. How many pounds of fruit does the customer​ buy? Answer parts a and b.
a. What do you do first to solve the​ problem? Select the correct choice below and fill in the answer​ box(es) to complete your choice.
A.
Find the number of pounds of oranges and the number of pounds of pears purchased by multiplying the amount paid for each type of fruit by the price per pound. There are
  
enter your response here pounds of oranges and
  
enter your response here pounds of pears.
B.
Add the number of pounds of oranges purchased to the number of pounds of pears purchased. There are
  
enter your response here pounds of fruits.
C.
Find the number of pounds of oranges and the number of pounds of pears purchased by dividing the amount paid for each type of fruit by the price per pound. There are
  
enter your response here pounds of oranges and
  
enter your response here pounds of pears.

Answer 1

Part (a)
C. Divide the amount paid for each fruit by its price per pound.
There are (5.45 ÷ price per lb of oranges) pounds of oranges and (3.57 ÷ price per lb of pears) pounds of pears.

Part (b)
Add those two results to get the total pounds:
Total = 5.45 ÷ (price per lb of oranges) + 3.57 ÷ (price per lb of pears).

(If you give the prices per pound I will compute the numeric answer. For example, if oranges are $1.09/lb and pears $0.99/lb, then oranges = 5.45/1.09 = 5.00 lb, pears = 3.57/0.99 = 119/33 ≈ 3.606…, total ≈ 8.61 lb.)