Given:
The first customer paid $17 for 7 small envelopes and 3 memo pads.
The second customer paid $28.75 for 12 small envelopes and 5 memo pads.
To find:
The cost in dollars of each memo pad.
Solution:
Let x be the cost of each small envelop and y be the cost of each memo pad.
The first customer paid $17 for 7 small envelopes and 3 memo pads.
[tex]7x+3y=17[/tex] ...(i)
The second customer paid $28.75 for 12 small envelopes and 5 memo pads.
[tex]12x+5y=28.75[/tex] ...(ii)
Multiply equation (i) by 12 and equation (ii) be 7 to get same coefficient of x.
[tex]84x+36y=204[/tex] ...(iii)
[tex]84x+35y=201.25[/tex] ...(iv)
Subtracting (iv) from (iii), we get
[tex]84x+36y-84x-35y=204-201.25[/tex]
[tex]y=2.75[/tex]
Therefore, the cost of each memo pad is $2.75.