Question

Jim had some dimes, quarters, and nickels. First, he counted only the dimes and quarters and found that he had 9 coins. Then, he counted only the nickels and dimes and found there were 10 coins. He saw that he had 15 coins altogether. How much money does Jim have? Answer in dollars and cents.

Answer 1

$1.90

Explanation:

Represent the numbers of nickels, dimes and quarters by n, d and q.

Then: d + q = 9, or q = 9 - d.

Also, n + d = 10

Lastly, n + d + q = 15.

Let's substitute 9 - d for q in the equation immediately above:

n + d + (9 - d) = 15, or n + 9 = 15. Then n must be 6.

In summary, Jim has 6 nickels, (10 - 6) dimes and (9 - 4) quarters, or:

6 nickels, 4 dimes and 5 quarters

Thus, he has 5($0.05) + 4($0.10) + 5($0.25), or

$0.25 + $0.40 + $1.25, or $1.90