September 21, 1998
Problem of the Month

Money Matters

A dollar and sixty-two cents is made up from pennies, dimes, and nickels; half of the coins are nickels.

Find the number of ways that the division can be done, giving the number of pennies, dimes, and nickels for each solution.

Solution to the Problem:

From p + 5n + 10d = 162
and n = (p+n+d)/2
we get p = (54 - 5d) / 2.

Substituting in values, we get six solutions:

   Dimes  Pennies  Nickels
   -----  -------  -------
     0       27      27
     2       22      24
     4       17      21
     6       12      18
     8        7      15
    10        2      12
               

Correctly solved by:

1. Christi Cunsolo	Minneapolis, MN
2. Chad McDaniel	Winchester, VA
3. Rachel Rasmussen	Winchester, VA
4. Anna Hauger	Winchester, VA
5. Andrew Crosby	Winchester, VA
6. Ryan Dutton	Winchester, VA
7. Barrett Waybright	Winchester, VA
8. John Beavers	Winchester, VA

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher