You sell small $4 and large candles $6 at a craft fair. You collect $144 selling a total of 28 candles. How many of each type of candle did you sell?

There is a simple algebraic solution to this; a system of equations!

x = small candles and y = large candles

4x + 6y = 144

x + y = 28

Now there are two ways to solve this; substitution and elimination.

Let's use substitution for practice with the distributive property ...

4x + 6y = 144

y = - x + 28

Put the second equation into the first ...

4x + 6 (-x + 28) = 144

4x - 6x + 168 = 144

-2x + 168 = 144

-2x = - 24

x = 12

Plug this into one of the original equations ...

12 + y = 28

y = 16

And there you have it! You sold 12 small candles and 16 large candles.

12 Small, 16 Large

Step-by-step explanation:

When you do the math of getting 16 large candles and 12 small candles with respects to the price. You get the math of:

(6*16) + (4*12)

96 + 48

144

16 and 12 will make 28 which proves to be correct as 28 candles were sold