Question

You are buying balloons for a party. A small balloon costs ​$3. A large balloon costs ​$5. Write an algebraic expression for the cost of x small balloons and y large balloons. Then find the total cost for 11 small balloons and 6 large balloons.

An algebraic expression for the cost of x small balloons and y large balloons is?

Answer 1

1. Let $x$ be the number of small balloons and $y$ the number of large balloons. We know that cost of a small balloon is $3, so the cost of $x$ small balloons is $3x$; similarly, we know that the cost of a large balloon is $5, so the cost of $y$ small balloons is $5y$. Now to find the total cost $T$ of $x$ small balloons and $y$ large balloons, we just need to add their individual cost together:
$T=3x+5y$

We can conclude that an algebraic expression for the cost of x small balloons and y large balloons is $T=3x+5y$

2. To find the the total cost for 11 small balloons and 6 large balloons, we just need to replace $x$ with 11 and $y$ with 6 in our algebraic expression and simplify:
$T=3x+5y$
$T=3(11)+5(6)$
$T=33+30$
$T=63$

We can conclude that the total cost of 11 small balloons and 6 large balloons is $63