The Spanish club is arranging a trip to a Mexican restaurant

The Spanish club is arranging a trip to a Mexican restaurant in a nearby city. Those who go must share the $160 cost of using a school bus for the trip. The restaurant’s buffet costs $5 per person. How many students must sign up for this trip in order to limit the cost to $13 per student?

Please define your variables and write the equation you used as a part of the solution. Use algebra to solve the problem. Solutions that involve trial-and-error will not earn credit.

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The Spanish club is arranging a trip to a Mexican restaurant in a nearby city. Those who go must share the $60 cost of using a school bus for the trip. The restaurant’s buffet costs $5 per person. How many students must sign up for this trip in order to limit the cost to $10 per student?

Defining the variable:

Suppose we need n students to limit the cost to $10 per student. The total amount the students will bring = $10n.

The total cost of the trip = $(60+5n)

Setting up the equation:

10n = 60+5n

Solving the equation:

10n = 60+5n

Þ 10n - 5n = 60

Þ 5n = 60

Þ n = 60/5 = 12

Ans: 12 people must sign up.

Solution

Let n students are needed to limit the cost to $13 per student.

That implies

The total amount will be =$13n

The total cost of the trip will be = $(160+5n) {because $160 is fixed for the school bus and $5 is restaurant’s buffet cost per person}

Now

Equating both the conditions

We get the equation

13n= 160+5n

Subtract 5n from both sides

8n=160

Divide by 8 on both sides

n=160/8

n=20 ( answer is 20 students must sign up )