8. Four friends throw a party for their school's basketball team. To have enough food for the whole team, each friend buys 1 medium pizza, 2 orders of breadsticks, and 1 salad. Let \( p \) represent the price of 1 medium pizza. Let \( b \) represent the price of 1 order of breadsticks. Let \( s \) represent the price of 1 salad. All prices are in dollars. a. Write two different expressions that represent the total amount of money the friends spend. Explain how each expression describes the situation in a different way. b. The party is running out of food, so another friend orders 1 medium pizza and 1 salad. Write an expression to represent the total cost of all the food after this order.

The friends’ total spending can be expressed in two different ways. First, we can sum up their individual purchases: \( 4( p + 2b + s) \), representing each of the 4 friends buying 1 pizza, 2 breadsticks, and 1 salad. Alternatively, we can calculate the total for each food type separately: \( 4p + 8b + 4s \), showing how much they spent on pizzas, breadsticks, and salads independently, before combining them for a grand total. Both expressions provide a clear view of their overall expenditure, but from different perspectives. After the additional order, the total cost of the food will be represented by the expression \( 4( p + 2b + s) + p + s \). This combines the original expression for the four friends with the new order of 1 medium pizza and 1 salad. As a result, we now have a total expenditure reflecting all the food acquired for the party. By organizing the costs in this way, we ensure that everyone is well-fed and happy at the celebration!