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Write a system of equations to describe the situation below, solve using substitution, and fill in the blanks.\newlineDenise has a home-based business making and selling scented soaps. She intially spent $98\$98 to purchase soap-making equipment, and the materials for each pound of soap cost $8\$8. Denise sells the soap for $15\$15 per pound. Eventually, she will sell enough soap to cover the cost of the equipment. How much soap will that be? What will be Denise's total sales and costs be?\newlineOnce Denise sells _____ pounds of soap, her sales and costs will both be $\$_____.

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Q. Write a system of equations to describe the situation below, solve using substitution, and fill in the blanks.\newlineDenise has a home-based business making and selling scented soaps. She intially spent $98\$98 to purchase soap-making equipment, and the materials for each pound of soap cost $8\$8. Denise sells the soap for $15\$15 per pound. Eventually, she will sell enough soap to cover the cost of the equipment. How much soap will that be? What will be Denise's total sales and costs be?\newlineOnce Denise sells _____ pounds of soap, her sales and costs will both be $\$_____.
  1. Define Variables: Let's define the variables:\newlineLet xx be the number of pounds of soap Denise sells.\newlineDenise's total cost (CC) for making xx pounds of soap includes the initial equipment cost and the cost of materials per pound.\newlineDenise's total sales (SS) come from selling the soap at a certain price per pound.\newlineWe can write two equations to represent the total cost and total sales:\newlineTotal cost equation: C=initial cost+(cost per pound×number of pounds)C = \text{initial cost} + (\text{cost per pound} \times \text{number of pounds})\newlineTotal sales equation: S=price per pound×number of poundsS = \text{price per pound} \times \text{number of pounds}
  2. Write Equations with Given Numbers: Now let's write the equations with the given numbers:\newlineInitial cost = $98\$98\newlineCost per pound = $8\$8\newlinePrice per pound = $15\$15\newlineC=98+8xC = 98 + 8x\newlineS=15xS = 15x
  3. Find Break-Even Point: Denise will break even when her total sales equal her total costs. So we set the cost equation equal to the sales equation to find the break-even point:\newline98+8x=15x98 + 8x = 15x
  4. Solve for x: Now we solve for x:\newline15x8x=9815x - 8x = 98\newline7x=987x = 98\newlinex=987x = \frac{98}{7}\newlinex=14x = 14\newlineDenise needs to sell 1414 pounds of soap to cover her initial costs.
  5. Calculate Total Sales and Costs: To find the total sales and costs when Denise sells 1414 pounds of soap, we substitute x=14x = 14 into the sales equation:\newlineS=15xS = 15x\newlineS=15×14S = 15 \times 14\newlineS=210S = 210\newlineSo Denise's total sales and costs will both be $210\$210 when she sells 1414 pounds of soap.

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