The supermarket is having a sale if you purchase 3 of an item. Maggie bought macaroni and cheese and ramen with this sale. In total, she spent $9. Each box of mac and cheese cost $1.25. Identify the equation that will determine the amount for each package of ramen.

3(×+1.25)=9
9(×+1.25=3
1.25(×+3)=9
3×+1.25=9

1 answer

To determine the cost of each package of ramen that Maggie bought, we can set up the problem as follows:

Let \( x \) be the cost of one package of ramen. Since Maggie bought 3 items in total (some combination of macaroni and cheese and ramen), we know that she bought 3 boxes and spent a total of $9. Each box of macaroni and cheese costs $1.25.

Assuming she bought 3 boxes in total, we can think of the number of packages of ramen she bought as \( y \). Thus, we have the following setup:

  1. The total number of boxes Maggie bought: \[ y + z = 3 \] where \( z \) is the number of mac and cheese boxes.

  2. The total cost equation would be: \[ 1.25z + xy = 9 \]

However, we need to represent these calculations in terms of just one equation based on the choices given:

To check the options provided:

  1. 3(× + 1.25) = 9: This option implies that 3 boxes of an item that costs \( x + 1.25 \) together cost $9. This does not fit our situation since the cost structure doesn't mix with “3 boxes of something costing $9” directly.

  2. 9(× + 1.25) = 3: This seems incorrect mathematically as it cannot represent spending $9 on 3 boxes.

  3. 1.25(× + 3) = 9: This does not fit since it implies that the cost of each mac and cheese and the number of boxes isn't structured correctly.

  4. 3x + 1.25 = 9: This option represents that 3 boxes of ramen (at \( x \) each) plus the cost of 1 box of mac and cheese equals the total spent of $9.

Thus, the equation that correctly represents the purchase scenario for Maggie's macaroni and cheese and ramen is:

\[ 3x + 1.25 = 9 \]

This means that she has spent $9 total where \( 3x \) accounts for the ramen and \( 1.25 \) is due to the macaroni and cheese she bought.