Question

Philip made a total of 9 bracelets and necklaces from 120 inches of cord. He used 8 inches of cord for each bracelet and 20 inches of cord for each necklace. Use matrices to find the number of bracelets and the number of necklaces that Philip made.

Answer 1

So Philip made 5 bracelets and 4 necklaces.

Explanation:

Let x = number of bracelets and y = number of necklaces.

Since we have a total of 9 bracelets and necklaces,

x + y = 9 (1)

Also, we have 8 inches of cord for each bracelet and 20 inches of cord for each necklace, then the total length for the bracelet is 8x and that for the necklace is 20y.

So, the total length for both is 8x + 20y. Since the total length of cord used is 120 inches,

8x + 20y = 120 (2)

Simplifying it we have

2x + 5y = 30 (3).

Writing equations (1) and (3) in matrix form, we have

`\left[\begin{array}{ccc}1&1\\2&5\end{array}\right] \left[\begin{array}{ccc}x\\y\end{array}\right] = \left[\begin{array}{ccc}9\\30\end{array}\right]`

Using Cramer's rule to solve for x and y,

`x = det \left[\begin{array}{ccc}9&1\\30&5\end{array}\right] /det \left[\begin{array}{ccc}1&1\\2&5\end{array}\right] \\`

x = (9 × 5 - 30 × 1) ÷ (1 × 5 - 1 × 2)

x = (45 - 30) ÷ (5 - 2)

x = 15 ÷ 3

x = 5

`y = det \left[\begin{array}{ccc}1&9\\2&30\end{array}\right] /det \left[\begin{array}{ccc}1&1\\2&5\end{array}\right] \\`

y = (30 × 1 - 9 × 2) ÷ (1 × 5 - 1 × 2)

y = (30 - 18) ÷ (5 - 2)

y = 12 ÷ 3

y = 4

So Philip made 5 bracelets and 4 necklaces.