Owen would like to make a small income as an artist. Owen asked his friend Emily for advice about what combination of pictures to make. She suggested that he determine a reasonable profit for that month’s work

and then paint what he needs in order to earn that amount of profit.

• Each pastel requires $5 in materials and earns a profit of $40 for Owen.
• Each watercolor requires $15 in materials and earns a profit of $100 for Owen.
• Owen has $180 to spend on materials.
• Owen can make at most 16 pictures.
a. State the system of inequalities that represents this situation. Remember to define your variables and include any non-negative constraints that are required.

1 answer

Let x be the number of pastel pictures Owen makes, and let y be the number of watercolor pictures Owen makes.

The inequalities representing this situation are:
5x + 15y ≤ 180 (constraint on the amount of money Owen can spend on materials)
x + y ≤ 16 (constraint on the maximum number of pictures Owen can make)

In addition, both x and y must be non-negative:
x ≥ 0
y ≥ 0

Therefore, the system of inequalities is:
5x + 15y ≤ 180
x + y ≤ 16
x ≥ 0
y ≥ 0