A tool company manufactures pliers, scissors, and wrenchesIn 10 minutes the company uses 20 units of steel, 30 units of aluminum, and 12 units of rubber (for the grips)Each pair of pliers contains 2 units of steel, 4 units of aluminum, and 2 units of rubberEach pair of scissors contains 1 unit of steel, 3 units of aluminum, and 1 unit of rubberEach wrench contains 2 units of steel, 1 unit of aluminum, and no rubberHow many pliers, scissors, and wrenches are manufactured in 10 minutes at the tool company?
Let the number of pliers, scissors and wrenches manufactured in 10 minutes be p, s, and w respectivelySince each pair of pliers requires 2, 4 and 2 units of steel, aluminum and rubber respectively, to produce p pairs requires 2p, 4p and 2p units of steel, aluminum and rubber respectivelySimilarly, to produce s pairs of scissors requires s, 3s and s units of steel, aluminum and rubber respectively, whilst to produce w wrenches requires 2w, w and 0 units of steel, aluminum and rubber respectivelyAdding the units of steel, aluminum and rubber required and comparing to the number used then gives the following three equations 2p + s + 2w 20 (steel) 4p + 3s + w 30 (aluminum) 2p + s + 0 12 (rubber) I'll leave you to solve this system of 3 equations for the 3 unknowns p, s and w!
