Elementary POW, February 10-14, 1997


Elem POW Problems || Dec '96 - Feb '97 Problems || Elem POW Main Page

The Snicker Snack Attack

Joey, Paolo, and Felix love Snickers candy bars. The local grocery store is offering a 10 percent discount on each pack of king-size Snickers bars bought. In addition to the discount, the customer receives one free bar for each pack purchased. Each pack contains six bars, and each pack, at the regular price, costs $3.30.

The boys decide to pool their allowance money in order to buy as many candy packs as they can. The total number of Snickers bars they get is 77. Once the boys return home with their candy, their mother takes a deep breath, counts to ten, and then makes three dental appointments.

How many extra packs of candy bars did the boys buy using the extra money they saved by getting the discount? How many bars did they get free? Including a sales tax of 7.75 percent, how much money did they spend on the candy?

This week's mentor is Greg Mellor, Grade 9, Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA.

Correct Solutions submitted by:

Highlighted Solutions

Casey Gorish
6th Grade
Mrs. McMahon
Murray Middle School
Ridgecrest CA
E-Mail: mojave@ridgecrest.ca.us

  1. How many extra packs of candy did they buy using the extra money they saved from the discount? They bought 1 extra pack.
  2. How many bars did they get free? They got 11 bars free.
  3. Including a sales tax of 7.75 percent, how much did they spend buying the candy? They spent $35.20 buying the candy.

I found the first answer by playing with some combinations. First, I had to find out how many packs they bought, and I found they bought 11 packs. Then, I had to find out how much they had spent. I found that they spent $32.67. Then, I found that if they paid full price, they would have paid $36.30. When you subtract $32,67 from $36.30, it equals $3.63. This is enough to buy 1 extra pack.

I found the second answer after the first. Since they bought 11 packs, they got 11 bars free, which makes 77.

I found the third answer by multiplying $32.67 by 7.75 percent, which is $32.67 X .0775. This equals $2.53, which is then added to $32.67, which is $35.20.

Meghan R.
Grade 5
Mrs. Crawford
Bagnall School, Groveland, MA

First find 10 percent of $3.30. It is $.33. Now subtract $.33 from $3.30, which is $2.97. Now think $2.97 for 7 bars. Then divide 77 by 7 and get 11. Now you know that they bought 11 packs, so multiply $2.97 by 11 and get $32.67. This is how much they spent on candy without tax.

Then you find how much they saved by multiplying 11 by $.33. Your answer ($3.63) is equal to 1 free pack or 7 candy bars free. Then you add on $2.53 sales tax to $32.67 and get $35.20 spent on candy. This is how I solved it.

Nate Litz, Elena Slavin, Sarah Haspiel, and Alexandra Heimos.
Forsyth School
St. Louis, MO
Bob Coulter's third grade math class

The answer for the 1st question is 1 pack. That is the answer because there are 11 groups of bars. We know this because each group has 1 pack of 6 bars plus 1 free bar, for a total of 7 bars (7 bars x 11 groups accounts for all 77 bars.) Each pack costs $2.97 after the discount of 33 cents. 11x2.97=32.67. If we had paid $3.30, the 11 packs would have cost 36.30. We saved $3.63 which is enough to buy 1 pack of candy.

The answer for question 2 is 11 free bars. That is the answer because they bought 11 packs of bars. One bar comes free with each pack, so there are 11 free bars.

The answer for question 3 is $35.20. That is the answer because one pack costs $2.97 and 11 packs would cost 11x$2.97, or $32.67. Adding the tax of 7.75 percent, which comes to $2.53, gives a total cost of $35.20.

[Privacy Policy] [Terms of Use]

_____________________________________
Home || The Math Library || Quick Reference || Search || Help 
_____________________________________

© 1994-2012 Drexel University. All rights reserved.
http://mathforum.org/
 The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies.The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies.