Muriel has kept track of her income and expenses for the week in the spreadsheet below. How much was Muriel's restaurant bill?

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|}
\hline
1 & \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{A} & \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{B} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{C} \\
\hline
1 & Transaction & Amount & Total \\
\hline
2 & Beginning balance & & \$380.29 \\
\hline
3 & Interest income & \$18.10 & \\
\hline
4 & Groceries & -\$61.39 & \\
\hline
5 & Restaurant bill & & \\
\hline
6 & Paycheck & \$476.24 & \\
\hline
7 & Gas & -\$35.00 & \\
\hline
8 & Ending balance & & \$735.69 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

a. \$17.66

b. \$42.55

c. \$6.35

d. \$112.55



Answer :

Sure, let's solve for Muriel's restaurant bill step-by-step using the given data from her spreadsheet.

1. Identify all transactions and their amounts:
- Beginning balance: \$380.29 (this is her initial amount of money)
- Interest income: \$18.10
- Groceries: -\$61.39
- Paycheck: \$476.24
- Gas: -\$35.00
- Ending balance: \$735.69 (this is her final amount of money after all transactions)

2. Calculate the total amount after all known transactions excluding the restaurant bill:
We start with her beginning balance and then add/subtract each known transaction:
[tex]\[ \text{Known transactions total} = 380.29 + 18.10 - 61.39 + 476.24 - 35.00 \][/tex]

3. Substitute the values and perform the arithmetic operations:
[tex]\[ \text{Known transactions total} = 380.29 + 18.10 - 61.39 + 476.24 - 35.00 = 778.24 \][/tex]

4. Determine the restaurant bill by comparing the known transactions total to her ending balance:
[tex]\[ \text{Restaurant bill} = \text{Ending balance} - \text{Known transactions total} \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \text{Restaurant bill} = 735.69 - 778.24 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \text{Restaurant bill} = -42.55 \][/tex]

Thus, Muriel's restaurant bill was \-\$42.55. The negative sign indicates that this amount was an expense.

The correct answer is:
b. [tex]\(\$ -42.55\)[/tex]