Word Problem - Dimes and Nickels

by Visitor
(United States)

Question

Dave has a total of $4.50. He has twice as many dimes as nickels. How many of each coin does he have?

Answer

Before we can solve this problem, we should know that a nickel is worth 5 cents ($0.05) and a dime is worth 10 cents ($0.10). Now, we can start solving this question by analyzing the following sentence:

...Dave has...twice as many dimes as nickels .....

The above sentence means that the number of dimes are 2 times more than the number of nickels. With this, we can start forming an equation related to the dimes and nickels.

First, let's number of nickels be y.

So, the value of all the nickels in dollars:

0.05 × y = 0.05y

Since the number of dimes are 2 times more than the number of nickels, the number of dimes will be 2y.

So, the value of all the dimes in dollars:

0.10 × 2y = 0.20y

Now, by adding the value of nickels and dimes, we can get an equation for the total values ($4.50) of the dimes and nikels:

0.05y + 0.20y = 4.50

With this equation, we can find the value of y:


Hence,we have:

Number of nickels = y = 18
Number of dimes = 2y = 2(18) = 36