Thread: Sorry, Last question, i promise.

Health experts agree that cholesterol intake should be limited to 300 mg or less each day. Three ounces of shrimp and 2 ounces of scallops contain 156 mg of cholesterol. Five ounces of shrimp and 3 ounces of scallops contain 45 mg of cholesterol less than the suggested maximum daily intake. Determine the cholesterol content in an ounce of each item.


the two equations i got were
3x+2y=156
5x+3y=45

so from there, i eliminated the x's out and i got my y as 645...is it me or is that a little much? so i plugged that back into the original equation and i got my x as -378.....weird again. i plugged the x and y back into the equation and ta-da! the both worked but they dont seem like reasonable answers...do they?

I think you did everything correctly.
I think the problem is that the problem is impossible.

Originally Posted by CONFUSED_ONE

Health experts agree that cholesterol intake should be limited to 300 mg or less each day. Three ounces of shrimp and 2 ounces of scallops contain 156 mg of cholesterol. Five ounces of shrimp and 3 ounces of scallops contain 45 mg of cholesterol less than the suggested maximum daily intake. Determine the cholesterol content in an ounce of each item.


the two equations i got were
3x+2y=156
5x+3y=45

Look again at the wording that gives the last equation :- the RHS should
be 45mg less than the recommended daily maximum, that is (300-45)mg.

So the RHS of the second equation should be 255 not 45.

RonL

RonL

OOHH i see..haha silly me. i didnt read the problem correctly. thank you for the help!