Miranda bought some apples and oranges at the store for fruit salad. Owen bought three times as many apples and twice as many oranges. Miranda has 5 fruits in her bag, but Owen has 12 fruits in his bag. How many apples did Miranda purchase? . . A. 1 . . B. 2 . .C. 3 . .D. 5 .
To answer the question above, let x and y be the number of apples and oranges Miranda bought, respectively.
For Miranda's case, the total number of fruits she bought is 5.
(1) x + y = 5
The number of fruits Owen bought can also be represented by the equation,
(2) 3x + 2y = 12
Solving for x and y from the two equations give x = 2 and y = 3. Therefore, the answer is letter B. Miranda bought 2 apples.