Sam goes to Paw-fect Pets to buy his dog a toy and some food. If he buys a chew toy for $16, he'll have exactly enough money left over to buy 7 cans of dog food. Alternatively, if he buys a ball for $3.50, he'll have exactly enough left over to buy 12 cans of dog food.Which equation can you use to find p, the price of a can of dog food?16–7p=3.5–12p16+7p=3.5+12pWhat is the price of a can of dog food?$

The correct equation to use to find p, the price of a can of dog food, is 16 - 7p = 3.5 - 12p.

To solve for p, we first need to get all the p terms on one side of the equation and the constants on the other side.

We can start by adding 12p to both sides of the equation to get rid of the -12p on the right side:

16 - 7p + 12p = 3.5 - 12p + 12p

This simplifies to:

16 + 5p = 3.5

Next, we subtract 16 from both sides to isolate the p term:

16 + 5p - 16 = 3.5 - 16

This simplifies to:

5p = -12.5

Finally, we divide both sides by 5 to solve for p:

5p / 5 = -12.5 / 5

This gives us:

p = -2.5

However, the price of a can of dog food cannot be negative. This suggests that there may be a mistake in the problem. If we look at the original equations, it seems more likely that the correct equation is 16 - 7p = 3.5 - 12p. If we solve this equation, we get a positive value for p, which makes sense in the context of the problem.

So, let's solve this equation instead:

16 - 7p = 3.5 - 12p

First, add 7p to both sides to get rid of the -7p on the left side:

16 - 7p + 7p = 3.5 - 12p + 7p

This simplifies to:

16 = 3.5 - 5p

Next, subtract 3.5 from both sides to isolate the p term:

16 - 3.5 = 3.5 - 5p - 3.5

This simplifies to:

12.5 = -5p

Finally, divide both sides by -5 to solve for p:

12.5 / -5 = -5p / -5

This gives us:

p = -2.5

Again, the price of a can of dog food cannot be negative. This suggests that there may be a mistake in the problem. If we look at the original equations, it seems more likely that the correct equation is 16 + 7p = 3.5 + 12p. If we solve this equation, we get a positive value for p, which makes sense in the context of the problem.

So, let's solve this equation instead:

16 + 7p = 3.5 + 12p

First, subtract 7p from both sides to get rid of the 7p on the left side:

16 + 7p - 7p = 3.5 + 12p - 7p

This simplifies to:

16 = 3.5 + 5p

Next, subtract 3.5 from both sides to isolate the p term:

16 - 3.5 = 3.5 + 5p - 3.5

This simplifies to:

12.5 = 5p

Finally, divide both sides by 5 to solve for p:

12.5 / 5 = 5p / 5

This gives us:

p = 2.5

So, the price of a can of dog food is $2.5.