At one store, Julia saved $10 with a coupon for 40% off her total purchase. At another store, the $29 she spent on books is 58% of her total bill. How much did Julia spend in all at the two stores?
Let "a" and "b" represent the values of the first and second purchases, respectively. 0.40*(original price of "a") = $10 (original price of "a") = $10/0.40 = $25.00 . . . . divide by 0.40 and evaluate a = (original price of "a") - $10 . . . . . . Julia paid the price after the discount a = $25.00 -10.00 = $15.00
At the other store, $29 = 0.58b $29/0.58 = b = $50 . . . . . . . divide by the coefficient of b and evaluate
Then Julia's total spending is a + b = $15.00 +50.00 = $65.00
