My question is: Jenny is planning her catering budget for her wedding. She's going to have 80 guests. 3 times as many guests want steak as chicken. If each steak entree costs $25 and each chicken entree costs $18, how much is the total catering budget? Your thoughts:
Let s be the number of guests who want steak and c be the number who want chicken. We know that s + c = 80 and s = 3c. Substituting the second equation into the first equation, we get 3c + c = 80. Combining like terms, we get 4c = 80. Dividing both sides by 4, we get c = 20. Then multiply the number of guests who want chicken by the cost of each chicken entree: 20 guests * $18 / guest = $360. Then triple the number of guests who want chicken to find the number who want steak: 20 guests * 3 = 60 guests. Then multiply the number of guests who want steak by the cost of each steak entree: 60 guests * $25 / guest = $1500. Then add the cost of the steak and chicken entrees to find the total cost: $1500 + $360 = $1860. The final answer: 1860.