How much will Latoya spend at the diner before the next synchronized visit with Bert?

When it comes to understanding spending habits, it’s often helpful to break down the scenario into manageable parts. In this case, we’re looking at the spending habits of two individuals, Bert and Latoya, who frequent the same diner but on different schedules. Bert visits the diner every three days, spending .50 each time, while Latoya visits every five days, spending .79. The question we’re trying to answer is: How much will Latoya spend in total at the diner before the next time she and Bert are there on the same day again?

Understanding the Cycle

First, we need to understand the cycle of their visits. Bert and Latoya will both be at the diner on the same day when their visit cycles align, which is the least common multiple of their visit frequencies. In this case, the least common multiple of 3 (Bert’s frequency) and 5 (Latoya’s frequency) is 15. This means that every 15 days, Bert and Latoya will be at the diner on the same day.

Calculating Latoya’s Spending

Next, we need to calculate how much Latoya will spend at the diner in this 15-day cycle. Since Latoya visits the diner every five days, she will visit the diner three times in a 15-day cycle. Given that she spends .79 each visit, we can calculate her total spending by multiplying the cost per visit by the number of visits:

• Cost per visit: .79
• Number of visits: 3

So, Latoya’s total spending at the diner in a 15-day cycle is .79 * 3 = .37.

Answering the Question

Now that we know how much Latoya spends in a 15-day cycle, we can answer the original question: How much will Latoya spend in total at the diner before the next time she and Bert are there on the same day again? Since we’ve established that Bert and Latoya are at the diner on the same day every 15 days, and Latoya spends .37 in each 15-day cycle, the answer is .37.

Conclusion

Understanding spending habits can be a complex task, especially when dealing with different schedules and spending amounts. However, by breaking down the problem into manageable parts and using basic mathematical principles, we can find the answer. In this case, Latoya will spend .37 at the diner before the next time she and Bert are there on the same day again.