A delivery truck is transporting boxes of two sizes: large and small. The large boxes weigh 55 pounds each, and the small boxes weigh 35 pounds each. There are 125 boxes in all. If the truck is carrying a total of 4950 pounds in boxes, how many of each type of box is it carrying?
Let L be the number of large boxes and S be the number of small boxes. We can write a system of equations to solve this problem:
L + S = 125
55L + 35S = 4950
Multiply the first equation by 55 so we can eliminate L:
55L + 55S = 6875
55L + 35S = 4950
---------------------------------------- (subtraction)
20S = 1925
S = 96.25
L = 125 - 96.25 = 28.75
I solved the problem exactly how it was supposed to, but the answers aren't integers, which doesn't make sense.