A group of students are going on a trip and the trip costs $36.50 per student which includes $9.50 for lunch, an entrance ticket and a gift coupon. The gift coupon costs
50% of the entrance ticket. What is the cost of one entrance ticket?

$18

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's subtract the lunch from the trip total to get the remainding cost!  

36.50 - 9.50 =  $27

Now let's set up an equation to figure out the amount of the entrance ticket and the gift coupon!

let's have x = the entrance ticket

27 = x + 1/2(x) > 1/2 is next to x, because the gift coupon is 1/2, or 50% of the entrance ticket! Now solve for x!

27 = 3/2x

(2/3) 27 = 3/2x (2/3)

18 = x, so the entrance ticket is $18!