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Equations that Describe Patterns

Practice Equations that Describe Patterns
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Cheez Its
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Real World Applications – Algebra I


How are algebraic relationships represented in the nutrition facts of snacks?

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# of serving size 0 1 2 3 4
# of crackers total 0 36 72 108 144


If we were to calculate the number of crackers in 10 servings, we can write this as an expression and figure it out. If x represents the number of serving sizes, the expression is 36x. So, in 10 servings, I could eat 360 crackers. (I might also have a stomach ache too.)

We can also represent this relationship as an equation. If y represents the number of crackers, our equation would be y = 36x. If I wanted to eat 200 crackers we can figure out how many serving sizes that would equate to. 200 = 36x. We would divide both sides by 36, and find that x = 5.6, or a little over 5 and a half serving sizes.


Let x represent the number of cheez its I eat, and let y represent the number of calories. Our equation is \frac{x}{y} = \frac{36}{140}. This special equation is also called a proportion. If we use multiplication to eliminate the denominators, our new equation is \frac{(140x)}{36} = y. Since we can’t exceed our 2000 calorie diet, our inequality is \frac{(140x)}{36} \le 2000. What value of x would make this statement true?

We can use just two steps to figure this out! First, multiply both sides by 36 to eliminate the denominator. We now have 140x \le  72000. Next, we divide both sides by 140. So, x \le 514.3. This means that I can’t eat more than 514 crackers in one day, assuming that’ll be the ONLY food I eat all day.


\frac{514}{36} = 14 servings.


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