Question

ernest is making a seashell frame for his moms birthday gift. he plans to glue 30 seashells around the edge of the frame. ernest wants to use at most 14 white shells. let w represent the number of white shells ernest might use. which inequality models the story? options: w ≥ 30, w ≥ 14, w ≤ 30, w ≤ 14

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the key phrase

The problem states Ernest wants to use "at most 14 white shells". "At most" means the number of white shells \( w \) can be 14 or less.

Step2: Translate to inequality

The phrase "at most 14" translates to the inequality \( w \leq 14 \), since \( w \) (number of white shells) should be less than or equal to 14. The other options: \( w\geq30 \) is incorrect as total shells are 30 and white shells can't be more than 30 (but the key constraint is about at most 14), \( w\geq14 \) is the opposite of what's needed, and \( w\leq30 \) is a true statement (since total shells are 30, white shells can't exceed 30) but doesn't model the "at most 14" constraint.

Answer:

\( w \leq 14 \) (the last option: \( w \leq 14 \))