A science teacher ordered $660 worth of microscopes and dissection kits for the new science lab. A total of 22 microscopes and 44 dissection kits were ordered. A microscope costs three times as much as a dissection kit. What is the cost of each item?

To solve this problem, you should write a system of equations, letting the variable m represent the amount of microscopes bought and d the number of dissection kits bought.

we know that the cost of 22 microscopes and 44 dissection kits equals 660 dollars, or

22m + 44d = 660

we also know that a microscope costs 3 times as much as a dissection kit or

m = 3d

lets use the substitution strategy to solve this system of equations. we get one equation,

66d + 44d = 660

then we should combine like terms on the left side of the equation

110d = 660

and finally divide by 110 to get

d = 6

when we put this value back into one of our original equations, we get

m = 18

therefore, the science teacher ordered 6 dissection kits and 18 microscopes