Problema Solution
PETTY CRIME: Shady Grady finds a parking meter with a broken lock and scoops out the change inside. The meter accepts nickels, dimes, and quarters; there were 32 coins inside, with a total of coin value of $6.80. How many of each type of coin did Grady get?
Answer provided by our tutors
First, what is theoretical maximum of quarters there could be? Well, $6.75 is 27 quarters. You could add 1 nickle to get $6.80, but that would be only 28 coins in total. So how about using only 26 quarters, which is $6.50. Can you use the 6 remaining coins to total $0.30? Sure, 6 nickles gives $0.30.
So the final answer is 26 quarters and 6 nickles. That gives $6.80 using 32 coins.