Problem 4 - Elementary Algebra

Question

The price of one drip coffee at a campus coffee shop is \(\$ 1.25\). A student buys about 180 drip coffees per school year. Find the cost to buy 180 drip coffees.

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

\( \$225 \)

Step 1 - Identify the Price of One Drip Coffee

Determine the given price for one drip coffee. It is stated that one drip coffee costs \( \$1.25 \).

Step 2 - Identify the Quantity of Drip Coffees

Note the quantity of drip coffees the student buys in a school year. The problem states the student buys 180 drip coffees.

Step 3 - Calculate the Total Cost

Multiply the price of one drip coffee by the total number of drip coffees bought in a school year: \[ \text{Total Cost} = 1.25 \times 180 \]

Step 4 - Perform the Multiplication

Calculate the multiplication: \[ 1.25 \times 180 = 225 \]

Step 5 - State the Final Answer

The total cost to buy 180 drip coffees in a school year is \( \$225 \).

Key Concepts

Multiplication

In mathematics, multiplication is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. It can be thought of as repeated addition. For example, if you buy several identical items, you can find the total cost by multiplying the unit price by the quantity.

In this exercise, we need to calculate the total cost of buying 180 drip coffees, where each coffee costs \(1.25. Here, we use multiplication to find the answer: \[\text{Total Cost} = 1.25 \times 180\].

When we multiply these values, we get: 1.25 × 180 = 225.

Multiplication helps us quickly determine the total cost without adding \)1.25 repeatedly 180 times, making it a powerful and efficient arithmetic operation.

Unit Price

The unit price is the cost for a single item or measurement. Understanding the unit price is crucial as it helps in calculating the total cost when dealing with quantities.

In our exercise, the unit price of a drip coffee is stated as \(1.25. When you know the unit price and the quantity, you can figure out the total expense by simply using multiplication.

Here’s how we use the unit price in the calculation:

• Unit price of one coffee: \)1.25
• Quantity of coffees: 180

Knowing the unit price allows us to use the formula: \[\text{Total Cost} = \text{Unit Price} \times \text{Quantity}\].

Quantity

Quantity refers to the amount or number of something. In this context, it is the number of drip coffees bought in a year.

For our problem, the quantity is given as 180. Quantity helps us determine how many times the unit price should be taken into account.

Let’s focus on using this quantity:
\[\text{Total Cost} = 1.25 \times 180\]

The given quantity of 180 tells us how many times we need to multiply the unit price of \(1.25. Once we perform the multiplication, we get the total cost, which is \)225. Understanding quantity is key in ensuring accurate cost calculations, especially when dealing with large numbers of items.