At a fruit stall, mangoes are sold at 2 for $7 and pears are sold at 3 for $5.50. Mdm Fauziah bought the SAME number of mangoes and pears, and paid $160 in total. How many mangoes did she buy?
She needs the same count of each, and 6 is the smallest number both deals divide into evenly: 3 lots of 2 mangoes, and 2 lots of 3 pears.
| how many | cost | |
|---|---|---|
| 🥭 mangoes | 6 (= 3 × 2) | 3 × $7 = $21 |
| 🍐 pears | 6 (= 2 × 3) | 2 × $5.50 = $11 |
| one "group of 6 + 6" | — | $21 + $11 = $32 |
$160 ÷ $32 = 5 groups.
5 × 6 = 30 mangoes.
The trap: working out the price of ONE mango and ONE pear. A pear costs $5.50 ÷ 3, which is not a whole number of cents — buying in sixes keeps every figure exact.