For the family reunion, Peter is buying 16 pounds of bone-in chicken and half that amount in hamburgers. He's going to buy 2 more pounds of hot dogs than hamburgers. He's also going to buy several sides that will weigh half the amount of hot dogs. How many pounds of food will he buy?
Thoughts? Step-by-step reasoning:
He is buying 16 pounds of chicken and half that amount in hamburgers so he's buying 16 / 2 = 8 pounds of hamburgers. He's going to buy 2 more pounds of hotdogs than hamburgers, which are 8 pounds so he'll have 2 + 8 = 10 pounds of hot dogs. He's going to buy sides that weigh half the amount of the hot dogs so that's 10 / 2 = 5 pounds of sides. He's buying 16 pounds of chicken, 8 pounds of hamburgers, 10 pounds of hot dogs and 5 pounds of sides for a total of 16 + 8 + 10 + 5 = 39 pounds of food.
Thus, the answer is 39.