High School

The homecoming committee buys fresh flowers to place on the tables for the homecoming dance. A local florist charges [tex]$\$ 9.00$[/tex] for each flower arrangement and a [tex]$\$ 50.00$[/tex] delivery fee.

If the budget for flowers is [tex]$\$ 400$[/tex], which inequality represents the number of flower arrangements, [tex]f[/tex], that the homecoming committee can buy?

A. [tex]f \leq 44[/tex]

B. [tex]f \leq 43[/tex]

C. [tex]f \leq 39[/tex]

D. [tex]f \leq 38[/tex]

Answer :

To solve this problem, we need to figure out how many flower arrangements the homecoming committee can buy given their budget constraints. Let's go through the steps:

1. Understand the Total Budget Constraint:
- The committee has a total budget of [tex]$400.

2. Consider the Costs:
- Each flower arrangement costs $[/tex]9.
- There is also a delivery fee of $50.

3. Set Up the Inequality:
- The total cost of the flower arrangements plus the delivery fee must be less than or equal to the budget.
- The inequality will be: [tex]\(9f + 50 \leq 400\)[/tex], where [tex]\(f\)[/tex] represents the number of flower arrangements.

4. Solve the Inequality:
- First, subtract the delivery fee from the total budget to see how much can be spent on flower arrangements alone:
[tex]\[
400 - 50 = 350
\][/tex]
- Now, divide the remaining budget by the cost per arrangement to find out the maximum number of arrangements:
[tex]\[
\frac{350}{9} = 38.888\ldots
\][/tex]
- Since [tex]\(f\)[/tex] must be a whole number (you can't buy a fraction of a flower arrangement), round down to the nearest whole number:
[tex]\[
f = 38
\][/tex]

5. Conclusion:
- The maximum number of flower arrangements the committee can buy is 38.

Therefore, the correct inequality representing the number of flower arrangements the committee can purchase is [tex]\(f \leq 38\)[/tex], which corresponds to option D.