Fiona has $18 to spend. She spent $4.25, including tax, to buy a notebook. She needs to save $9.75, but she wants to buy a snack. If crackers cost $0.50 per package including tax, what inequality would show the maximum number of packages that Fiona can buy? Solve your inequality by showing your work and steps.

Answer 1

Let's say that Fiona buys x packages of crackers. Each package costs $0.50, so the total cost of x packages would be 0.50x.
We know that Fiona has $18 to spend and she already spent $4.25 on a notebook, so she has 18 - 4.25 = $<<18-4.25=13.75>>13.75 left to spend and save.
She wants to save $9.75, so the maximum amount she can spend on crackers is $13.75 - $9.75 = $<<13.75-9.75=4>>4.
Therefore, the inequality that shows the maximum number of packages Fiona can buy is 0.50x ≤ 4.

To solve the inequality, we can divide both sides by 0.50 to get:
x ≤ 4 / 0.50

x ≤ 8

So, the maximum number of packages Fiona can buy is 8.