Molly has 6 grandchildren. She likes to be fair and buy gifts for all of them at the same time. She found jigsaw puzzles, each discounted by 50¢. Find the original cost of each puzzle if she spent a total of $27.(1 point)

Answer 1

Let's denote the original cost of each puzzle as \( x \).

Since Molly has 6 grandchildren, she will need to buy 6 puzzles. The total cost for the puzzles at the original price would be: \[ 6x \]

However, the puzzles are discounted by $0.50 each, so the cost per puzzle after the discount is: \[ x - 0.50 \]

Therefore, the total cost for the 6 puzzles after the discount becomes: \[ 6(x - 0.50) = 6x - 3 \]

According to the problem, the total amount Molly spent is $27. Thus, we have the following equation: \[ 6x - 3 = 27 \]

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

1. Add 3 to both sides: \[ 6x = 27 + 3 \] \[ 6x = 30 \]
2. Divide both sides by 6: \[ x = \frac{30}{6} = 5 \]

Thus, the original cost of each puzzle is \( x = 5 \) dollars.