A company sells ear buds for $17 each. At the end of the week, they have sold
$731 worth of ear buds. How many ear buds did they sell? Write and solve an
equation to find the answer.
Show your work.



Answer :

To solve this problem, we'll set up an equation where the number of ear buds sold is represented by \( x \). The price of each ear bud is given as $17, and the total sales amount is $731. The equation representing the total sales is: \[ 17 \times x = 731 \] Where: - \( 17 \) is the price per ear bud. - \( x \) is the number of ear buds sold. - \( 731 \) is the total sales amount. Our goal is to solve for \( x \). We can do this by dividing both sides of the equation by the price per ear bud. Divide both sides by \( 17 \): \[ \frac{17 \times x}{17} = \frac{731}{17} \] The \( 17 \)'s on the left side of the equation cancel each other out, so we are left with: \[ x = \frac{731}{17} \] Now, divide \( 731 \) by \( 17 \): \[ x = 43 \] Thus, the company sold \( 43 \) ear buds. To check our work, we can multiply the number of ear buds sold by the price per ear bud: \[ 43 \times 17 = 731 \] This confirms that our calculation is correct. The company sold \( 43 \) ear buds.