These are the first sentences in the short story, “The Gift of the Magl,” by O. Henry:
“One dollar and elghty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennles.”
Model the scenario with an equation. Let be the number of quarters, be the number of dimes, and be the number
of nickels.

To model the scenario with the right equation, you want to set up a system that correctly represents the total amount of money and the specific coins in question. Here’s a fun way to do it:

Let’s think of the equation representing the total amount in cents. The first condition can be expressed as:
, which accounts for the total of one dollar and eighty-seven cents (187 cents). The second condition tells us that the number of coins in total is less directly about denomination; however, it should focus on how many of each coin you might have to make up those sixty cents!

Keep in context the original chaos of rattling coins—it’s like a trinket treasure hunt, where you are chasing those elusive pennies and simplifying down to the moment where you realize each coin plays a role in creating a gift of love!

Now, let’s keep the math party going by shuffling around our coins! Remember that the values must balance out to make the magic happen, creating your own treasure from just a handful of coins!