How do you solve this?

By using the subsitution/elimination method...





A florist will make up bouquets of different flowers. The rates and bouquets are listed below. If the flowers cost the same individually or in a bouquet, how much does one orchid cost?





Small bouquet:


2 snapdragons, 1 rose, 1 orchid $8


Medium bouquet:


5 snapdragons, 3 roses, 2 orchids $19


Large bouquet:


8 snapdragons, 5 roses, 5 orchids $38





Ah, I'd really appreciate the clarification! It's a study question of mine and I'm a bit confused..

How do you solve this?
If we let s = snapdragons, r = roses and o = orchids, then:


Small bouquet: 2s + r + o = 8


Medium bouquet: 5s + 3r + 2o = 19


Large bouquet: 8s + 5r + 5o = 38


From 1)


o = 8 - r - 2s


Substituting into 3)


8s + 5r + 5(8-r-2s) = 38


8s + 5r + 40 - 5r - 10s = 38


-2s = -2


s = 1


We can now solve the first two simultaneously.


2 + r + o = 8


r + o = 6


o = 6 - r


5 + 3r + 2o = 19


3r + 2(6-r) = 14


3r + 12 - 2r = 14


r = 2


Finally, this lets us solve for o:


o = 6 - r


= 4





So, the snapdragons cost $1 each, the roses $2 each, and the orchids $4 each.





You have to be careful picking your substitutions - the only reason this substitution cancelled so well was because I saw that the ratio of roses:orchids in the final question was 1:1, and I knew that by making o the subject of the first equation, I would cancel out the roses in the final equation. It's a skill you learn by practice...





You will learn about matrices some day, which makes these sort of questions a lot easier.
Reply:i have problem with that kind of question too


but i don`t know how to solve it so sorry