Question

A merchant buys a shipment of spice for $76 and then sells it for $100. For each sack of spices, he gains a profit of $2. How many sacks did he sell?

Answer 1

Profit = $100 - $76 = $24

Number of sacks = 24 ÷ 2 = 12

Answer: He bought 12 sacks.

Answer 2

Answer = 12 sacks.

Solution:

From the information given, we know that for every shipment the merchant buys(which is 76 dollars) he sells that 76 dollars for 100 dollars.

We can form an equation based of the information:

Let y be how much money he earns of 1 sack.

y = $-76+$100

y = +24 dollars.

Now we know that for every shipment he buys, 1 bag of spice in that shipment is equal to 24 dollars.

It says that for every spice he buys, he earns a 2 dollar profit.

1 spice costs 24 dollars.

Let x be his profit for every spice

2x = y

plug it in

2x=24

solve x

x =  12