Please!!! help me with this word problem...how do i do it?

Deborah bought some roses and carnations at a local flower shop. Carnations cost $3.50 each and roses cost $5.50 each. The total cost of 12 flowers is $52.00. How many roses and how many carnations did Deborah buy?

Please!!! help me with this word problem...how do i do it?
Let's say R = Roses and C = Carnations. The problem tells you that R + C = 12 flowers total.



Now, if you have two unsolved elements, R and C, you can't solve the equation. So, you have to re-arrange the two unsolved elements into one unsolved element. How? Well, let's say you're going to solve C. Then, another way to look at R is to re-arrange the R + C = 12 into R = 12 - C. So, now you have (12 - C) + C = 12. (That's exactly the same as R + C = 12).



So, now you can create an equation to solve for C:

(3.50 x (12 - C)) + (5.50 x C) = 52.00

42 - 3.50C + 5.50C = 52.00

2C = 10

C = 5



You've solved C. Now you can solve for R, which is 12 - C.