Let s be the cost of strawberry chews.
Let l be the cost of lollipops.
It says strawberry chews cost 3 cents more than lollipops, so the equation would be:
s = l + 3,
because you need to add 3 more cents to one lollipop to equal the price of one strawberry chew.
Then it says she pays 54 cents for 2 strawberry chews and 4 lollipops. The equation would be:
2s = 4l = 54,
because the cost two of strawberry chews is 2s and the cost of 4 lollipops is 4l, and it all equals 54.
Now you have two equations and you can solve for s and l through substitution.
s = l + 3
2s + 4l = 54
2(l + 3) +4l = 54
2l + 6 + 4l = 54
6l = 48
l = 8
s = l + 3
s = (8) + 3
s = 11
