AI Tutor
Imagine reaching into your pocket and pulling out a handful of shiny coins. How do you know if you have enough to buy a crunchy red apple?

The Four Coins

To add money, we first need to know the value of each coin—which means how many cents each coin is worth.
A common trap is thinking bigger coins are always worth more. Even though a nickel looks bigger, a tiny dime is worth 10¢, which is twice as much as a 5¢ nickel!
So how do we add coins together when they are hidden inside a story?

Adding Different Coins

Here is our first story: Leo finds 1 quarter, 2 dimes, and 1 nickel under his sofa cushion. How much money did Leo find in all?
The fastest trick is to sort your coins from the greatest value to the least value, and then count up step-by-step.
We start with the quarter at 25¢, skip-count by tens to 35¢ and 45¢, and add 5 more to reach 50¢.
What happens when a story gives us the amounts in written numbers instead of pictures of coins?

Word Problems with Cent Amounts