Exhibits, Shows and Displays

Systems of Inequalities Help Please?

White River Gardens in Indianapolis, IN, presents a yearly butterfly exhibit. Pupae from Kenya, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and Florida are delivered semi-weekly. They are stored on rods in a glass case inside a green house until the metamorphosis takes place. As part of a recent order, White River Gardens received 63 pupae - morpho grandensis at $4.15 per pupa and battus polydamus at $1.50 per pupa. The total cost of the two species was $147.50. How many pupae of each species did the exhibit receive?

Public Comments

1. You know two things about two different pupae (how many and how much), so put them into equations. Call the pupae M (morpho grandensis) and B (battus polydamus). Altogether there were 63 of them, i.e. M + B = 63. You also know what they cost each, and what the total was. So write a second equation to express that. Now you have two equations in two unknowns - solve them either by substitution.