Last Fall, the Armadillo Restaurant in Fort Collins sent me the following coupons:
(1) $10 off any purchase of $35 or more,
(2) 25% off the total bill, and
(3) Buy one entree and get the second one free ($10 value).
(A) Explain which coupon I should use to maximize my savings.
Give all possibilities.
(B) What total purchase would result in the same savings with all three coupons?
Solution to the Problem:
(A) Use coupon #3 for any bill up to $35.
Use either coupon #1 or coupon #3 for any bill from $35 to $39.99.
Use any of the coupons for a $40 purchase.
Use coupon #2 for all bills over $40.
(B) All three coupons will save you $10 on a $40 bill.
The chart helps to see why you should use which coupon.
It shows the savings with each coupon for various bills.
If bill is:
Coupon #1
Coupon #2
Coupon #3
$0 - $20
NONE
$0 - $5
$0 - $10
$20 - $35
NONE
$5 - $8.75
$10
$35 - $40
$10
$8.75 - $10
$10
$40
$10
$10
$10
$40 - $100
$10
$10 - $25
$10
Correctly solved by:
Last Fall, the Armadillo Restaurant in Fort Collins sent me the following coupons:
(1) $10 off any purchase of $35 or more,
(2) 25% off the total bill, and
(3) Buy one entree and get the second one free ($10 value).
(A) Explain which coupon I should use to maximize my savings.
Give all possibilities.
(B) What total purchase would result in the same savings with all three coupons?
| 1. James Alarie | Flint, Michigan |
| 2. Holden Bindl |
Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming |
| 3. Chad Fore | Gate City, Virginia |