Making change from the coins you have
A till, cash box or money tin has only a few coins left: some quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Can it give a customer exactly the right change? If it can, the student taps the coins to give. Sometimes the change is from a dollar, so it has to be worked out first. In other questions three amounts are shown and the student picks the one the till can't give.
About a third of the amounts can't be made. The pennies are the key: every other coin is a multiple of 5¢, so 13¢ needs 3 pennies whatever else is used. And taking the biggest coin first doesn't always work. With a quarter, three dimes and no nickels, 30¢ is three dimes, not the quarter.
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What changes each time
- 4 to 8 coins in the till, up to 4 pennies; amounts up to 99¢
- Can it give the change (yes or no, then the coins), or which of three amounts it can't give
- About a third can't be made, for want of pennies or the right mix of bigger coins
More money and profit practice
- Counting coins (Grade 2)
- Profit or loss (Grade 2)
- Buying and selling the same thing again (Grade 3)
- Keeping a running total of money (Grade 3)
- Profit and loss from a table (Grade 4)
- Best price after discount (Grade 4)
- Buying and selling problems (Grade 5)
- Selling price to reach a target (Grade 6)