Ron was getting some items for the new school year. He first bought some textbooks with [tex]$\$[/tex]8[tex]$ more than $[/tex]\frac{1}{3}[tex]$ of his money. Then, he bought his stationery with $[/tex]\[tex]$12.20$[/tex] less than [tex]$\frac{1}{2}$[/tex] of his remaining money. Lastly, he bought some socks with [tex]$\$[/tex]2.80[tex]$ more than $[/tex]\frac{1}{2}[tex]$ of the money left. He had $[/tex]\[tex]$15.40$[/tex] with him.

How much money did he have at first?



Answer :

To determine how much money Ron had initially, we need to backtrack through his purchases.

1. Final Amount: He was left with \[tex]$15.40 after all his expenditures. 2. Socks Purchase: - Let \( x \) be the amount of money he had before buying the socks. - He spent \(\frac{x}{2} + 2.80\) on socks. - After buying socks, he had \$[/tex]15.40 left, so:
[tex]\[ x - \left(\frac{x}{2} + 2.80\right) = 15.40 \][/tex]
- Simplifying the above equation:
[tex]\[ x - \frac{x}{2} - 2.80 = 15.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{x}{2} - 2.80 = 15.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{x}{2} = 15.40 + 2.80 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{x}{2} = 18.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ x = 2 * 18.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ x = 36.40 \][/tex]
- So, before buying socks, he had \[tex]$36.40. 3. Stationery Purchase: - Let \( y \) be the amount of money he had before buying the stationery. - He spent \(\frac{y}{2} - 12.20\) on stationery. - After buying stationery, he had \$[/tex]36.40 left, so:
[tex]\[ y - \left(\frac{y}{2} - 12.20\right) = 36.40 \][/tex]
- Simplifying the above equation:
[tex]\[ y - \frac{y}{2} + 12.20 = 36.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{y}{2} + 12.20 = 36.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{y}{2} = 36.40 - 12.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{y}{2} = 24.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ y = 2 * 24.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ y = 48.40 \][/tex]
- So, before buying stationery, he had \[tex]$48.40. 4. Textbooks Purchase: - Let \( z \) be the amount of money he had before buying the textbooks. - He spent \(\frac{z}{3} + 8.00\) on textbooks. - After buying textbooks, he had \$[/tex]48.40 left, so:
[tex]\[ z - \left(\frac{z}{3} + 8.00\right) = 48.40 \][/tex]
- Simplifying the above equation:
[tex]\[ z - \frac{z}{3} - 8.00 = 48.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{2z}{3} - 8.00 = 48.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{2z}{3} = 48.40 + 8.00 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \frac{2z}{3} = 56.40 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ 2z = 56.40 * 3 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ 2z = 169.20 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ z = \frac{169.20}{2} \][/tex]
[tex]\[ z = 84.60 \][/tex]

So, Ron initially had \$84.60 before making any purchases.