Four friends bought books at a bookstore. The person who got the best deal has the lowest ratio of cost to number of books purchased.

Question

Book Purchases
Name
Total Cost
Number of Books
Jo
$9
4
Kei
$12
8
Kate
$30
16
Bryn
$8
4

Who got the best deal?
Jo
Kei
Kate
Bryn

Answer 1

To determine who got the best deal, we need to calculate the cost per book for each person. The formula for cost per book is:

\[ \text{Cost per book} = \frac{\text{Total Cost}}{\text{Number of Books}} \]

Now, let's calculate it for each friend:

1. Jo

   • Total Cost: $9
   • Number of Books: 4
   • Cost per book: \(\frac{9}{4} = 2.25\)

2. Kei

   • Total Cost: $12
   • Number of Books: 8
   • Cost per book: \(\frac{12}{8} = 1.5\)

3. Kate

   • Total Cost: $30
   • Number of Books: 16
   • Cost per book: \(\frac{30}{16} = 1.875\)

4. Bryn

   • Total Cost: $8
   • Number of Books: 4
   • Cost per book: \(\frac{8}{4} = 2.00\)

Now, let’s summarize the cost per book for each person:

• Jo: $2.25
• Kei: $1.50
• Kate: $1.875
• Bryn: $2.00

The person with the lowest cost per book (best deal) is Kei, with a cost of $1.50 per book.

Therefore, the answer is: Kei