Question

a contractor needs to buy nails to build a house. the nails come in small boxes and large boxes. each small box has 50 nails and each large box has 350 nails. the contractor bought a total of 13 boxes that have 3350 nails altogether. determine the number of small boxes purchased and the number of large boxes purchased. answer attempt 1 out of 2 there were small boxes purchased and large boxes purchased. submit answer

Explanation:

Step1: Define variables

Let $x$ = number of small boxes, $y$ = number of large boxes.

Step2: Set up total boxes equation

$x + y = 13$

Step3: Set up total nails equation

$50x + 350y = 3350$

Step4: Simplify nails equation

Divide by 50: $x + 7y = 67$

Step5: Subtract box equation

$(x + 7y) - (x + y) = 67 - 13$
$6y = 54$

Step6: Solve for y

$y = \frac{54}{6} = 9$

Step7: Solve for x

$x = 13 - 9 = 4$

Answer:

There were 4 small boxes purchased and 9 large boxes purchased.