michael purchased a certain number of one stock for a total of $176. the second stock was selling for $5 less per share. michael could have bough 5 more shares of the second stock for the same amount of money. how many shares of the first stock did michael purchase? how much did each share cost?

Answer 1

If he purchased x shares for price p, then

xp = 176

But,

(x+5)(p-5) = xp

xp + 5p - 5x - 25 = xp
p-x-5 = 0
but, p = 176/x, so

176/x - x - 5 = 0
x = 11

11*16 = 176
16*11 = 176

Answer 2

The answer is michael bought 11 shares each costing $16