A vendor paid a total of $2640 for some dresses and some coats. He paid $560 more for the coats than the dresses. Each coat cost $12 more than each dress. The number of dresses he bought was ⁴₅ of the number of coats bought.

1. How much did he pay for all the dresses?
2. How many dresses did he buy?

	Dresses	Coats	Difference in cost	Number of items in 1 set
Number of sets	4	5
Total cost	$1040	$1600
Cost of 1 set	1040 ÷ 4 = $260	1600 ÷ 5 = $320	320 - 260 = $60
Cost of each item	1 u	1 u + $12	$12	60 ÷ 12 = 5

(a)
Total amount = $2640
Total amount spent on dresses = (2640 - 560) ÷ 2 = $1040
Total amount spent on coats = 1040 + 560 = $1600

Amount that he paid for all the dresses = $1040

(b)
4 sets of dresses = $1040
5 sets of coats = $1600

1 set of dresses = 1040 ÷ 4 = $260
1 set of coats = 1600 ÷ 5 = $320

Difference in the amount paid for each set of coats and dresses
= 320 - 260
= $60

The extra $60 is due to each coat costing $12 more than each dress.

Number of dresses in 1 set
= 60 ÷ 12
= 5

Number of dresses that he bought
= 4 sets of dresses
= 4 x 5
= 20

Answer(s): (a) $1040; (b) 20