Colby wants to buy some gumballs that cost a nickel each. If he has 8 quarters, 6 dimes, 14 nickels, and 15 pennies, how many can he buy?

Answer: Colby can buy 69 gumballs.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1: Convert quarters to nickels

First, we convert the value of quarters into nickels. We know that one quarter is equivalent to 5 nickels.

Step 2: Calculate total nickels from quarters

Since Colby has 8 quarters and each quarter is worth 5 nickels, he has a total of 8×5=408 \times 5 = 40 nickels from his quarters.

Step 3: Convert dimes to nickels

Next, we convert the value of dimes into nickels. We know that one dime is equivalent to 2 nickels.

Step 4: Calculate total nickels from dimes

Colby has 6 dimes, and each dime is worth 2 nickels, so he has a total of 6×2=126 \times 2 = 12 nickels from his dimes.

Step 5: Convert pennies to nickels

Now we consider the pennies. We know that one nickel is equivalent to 5 pennies. Therefore, 1 penny is worth 1/51/5 of a nickel.

Step 6: Calculate total nickels from pennies

Colby has 15 pennies. To find out how many nickels this amounts to, we divide the number of pennies by 5 to get 15÷5=315 \div 5 = 3 nickels.

Step 7: Calculate total value in nickels

We sum up all the equivalent nickels from quarters, dimes, pennies, and the actual nickels Colby has. This gives a total of 40+12+14+3=6940 + 12 + 14 + 3 = 69 nickels.

Step 8: Determine number of gumballs

Since each gumball costs one nickel, Colby can buy a number of gumballs equal to the total number of nickels he has. Therefore, he can buy 69 gumballs.

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