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Study Guide: GMAT Exam: A Simple Guide To Solving Word Problems - Coins
Source: https://www.fatskills.com/gmat/chapter/gmat-exam-a-simple-guide-to-solving-word-problems-coins

GMAT Exam: A Simple Guide To Solving Word Problems - Coins

By Fatskills Exam Guides Team — the exam nerds behind 28,500+ quizzes and 2.1M practice questions across 500+ global exams.

⏱️ ~1 min read

In a coin problem, the value of a collection of coins equals the sum of the values of the coins in the collection.

(Of course, you must assume there are no rare coins in the collection that would be worth more than their face values.)

Make a table to organize the coin information to help you understand the question.


Example: Andre has a jar containing 759 U.S. nickels and dimes that have a total value of $53.30. How many nickels are in the jar?
Let n = the number of nickels. Let d = the number of dimes.

Make a table to organize the coin information in the question.


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Using the table, write two equations that represent the facts.
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Remember, when you have two variables, you will need two equations in order to determine a solution.

Solve the system, omitting the units for convenience.
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Using the method of substitution, solve the first equation, n + d = 759, for d in terms of n.
d = 759 – n

Substitute the result into the second equation and solve for n.
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There are 452 nickels in the jar.



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