High School

A store sells almonds for [tex]$\$[/tex] 7[tex]$ per pound, cashews for $[/tex]\[tex]$ 10$[/tex] per pound, and walnuts for [tex]$\$[/tex] 12[tex]$ per pound. A customer buys 12 pounds of mixed nuts consisting of almonds, cashews, and walnuts for $[/tex]\[tex]$ 118$[/tex]. The customer buys 2 more pounds of walnuts than cashews. The matrix below represents this situation.

[tex]\[ \left[\begin{array}{ccc|c}

0 & -1 & 1 & 2 \\

7 & 10 & 12 & 118 \\

1 & 1 & 1 & 12

\end{array}\right] \][/tex]

If the reduced row echelon form of this matrix represents the amount of each type of nut the customer buys, which statement is a possible interpretation of the results?

A. The customer buys 1 more pound of walnuts than almonds and 1 more pound of almonds than cashews.

B. The customer buys 2 more pounds of walnuts than almonds and 2 more pounds of almonds than cashews.

C. The customer buys 0.5 more pound of walnuts than almonds and 2.5 more pounds of almonds than cashews.

D. The customer buys 6.5 more pounds of walnuts than almonds and 8.5 more pounds of almonds than cashews.

Answer :

Sure! Let's solve the problem step-by-step using the given matrix to find out how many pounds of each type of nut the customer buys.

### Step 1: Understand the problem
The store sells:
- Almonds for [tex]$7 per pound
- Cashews for $[/tex]10 per pound
- Walnuts for [tex]$12 per pound

The customer buys 12 pounds of mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, and walnuts) for a total of $[/tex]118 and buys 2 more pounds of walnuts than cashews.

### Step 2: Set up the equations
From the problem statement, we can set up the following three equations:
1. [tex]\( x + y + z = 12 \)[/tex] (the total weight is 12 pounds)
2. [tex]\( 7x + 10y + 12z = 118 \)[/tex] (the total cost is $118)
3. [tex]\( z = y + 2 \)[/tex] (2 more pounds of walnuts than cashews)

### Step 3: Represent the equations as a matrix
We form an augmented matrix for these equations:
[tex]\[
\left[
\begin{array}{ccc|c}
0 & -1 & 1 & 2 \\
7 & 10 & 12 & 118 \\
1 & 1 & 1 & 12
\end{array}
\right]
\][/tex]
Here, [tex]\( x \)[/tex] represents pounds of almonds, [tex]\( y \)[/tex] represents pounds of cashews, and [tex]\( z \)[/tex] represents pounds of walnuts.

### Step 4: Solve the matrix
To solve for [tex]\( x \)[/tex], [tex]\( y \)[/tex], and [tex]\( z \)[/tex], we convert this matrix to reduced row echelon form (RREF). The RREF form will give us the solution directly.

### Step 5: Identify the solution
After converting the matrix to RREF and solving we get:
- [tex]\( x = 4 \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( y = 3 \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( z = 5 \)[/tex]

This means:
- The customer buys 4 pounds of almonds.
- The customer buys 3 pounds of cashews.
- The customer buys 5 pounds of walnuts.

### Step 6: Interpret the results
Now, let's interpret these results to match one of the provided statements:
- The customer buys 5 pounds of walnuts, 4 pounds of almonds, and 3 pounds of cashews.
- Compare walnuts to almonds: 5 - 4 = 1 (walnuts are 1 pound more than almonds)
- Compare almonds to cashews: 4 - 3 = 1 (almonds are 1 pound more than cashews)

So, the correct interpretation is:
- The customer buys 1 more pound of walnuts than almonds and 1 more pound of almonds than cashews.

Thus, the correct statement is:

The customer buys 1 more pound of walnuts than almonds and 1 more pound of almonds than cashews.