Answer: Jerod took at least $18.50 to the mall to ensure that he had at least $10.00 left after buying a snack.
Explanation:
Let's use "x" to represent the amount of money Jerod took to the mall.
After he spends $8.50 on a snack, he will have x - 8.50 dollars left.
Since he wants to keep a minimum of $10.00 in his pocket at all times, we can set up an inequality:

To solve for x, we can add 8.50 to both sides of the inequality:

Therefore, Jerod took at least $18.50 to the mall to ensure that he had at least $10.00 left after buying a snack.
Greetings! ZenZebra at your service, hope it helps! <33