Bus Puzzle: A Challenge in Linear Equations

 

You are the bus monitor on a field trip. There are two classes going on the trip: Class A has an unknown number of students, let's call it a, and Class B has an unknown number of students, b. Here's what you know:

1. The total number of students on the bus is 48.
2. There are 3 more students in Class A than in Class B. (i.e., a = b + 3)

Challenge:

1. Write down two equations that represent the information given in the clues.
2. Solve the system of equations to find the number of students in each class (a and b).

Bonus Challenge:

If each student brings a juice box for the trip, and a juice box costs $1.25, how much will it cost in total for all the juice boxes?