Sandy has a total of 35 coins in her money jar is sandy's jar contains only nickels and dimes and the value of all the coins is $2.50, how many nickels does sandy have?

0.05x + 0.10 (35-x) = 2.50 Get rid of decimals by multiplying every term by 100: 5x + 10 (35-x) = 250 5x + 350 - 10x = 250 - 5x + 350 = 250 - 5x = - 100 x = 20 = the number of nickels. The number of dimes is 35-x or 35-20 or 15 dimes. Checking: 20 nickels is $1.00 and 15 dimes is $1.50 And indeed $1.00 + $1.50 = $2.50 Edwin