document.write( "Question 1001429: How can I make a real world problem representing 7.5x=5.5x+25 \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #618625 by Edwin McCravy(20056) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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How can I make a real world problem representing 7.5x=5.5x+25
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document.write( "Fishing boat rental company A costs $7.50 an hour with no initial\r\n" );
document.write( "fee.  Fishing boat rental company B costs only $5.50 an hour but \r\n" );
document.write( "they charge a $25 initial fee.\r\n" );
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document.write( "I need to know how many hours I would have to rent a fishing boat \r\n" );
document.write( "so that the charge would be the the same.  [If I knew that number \r\n" );
document.write( "of hours, I would then know that if I wanted to rent a fishing boat \r\n" );
document.write( "for less than that number of hours, company A would be cheaper, but\r\n" );
document.write( "if I wanted to rent it for more than that number of hours, company\r\n" );
document.write( "B would be cheaper.]\r\n" );
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document.write( "Let x = the number of hours when the costs would be the same.\r\n" );
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document.write( "Then the rental cost for company A would be $7.50x and\r\n" );
document.write( "the rental cost for company B would be $5.50x + $25.\r\n" );
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document.write( "To find the number of hours for which the charge would be the same,\r\n" );
document.write( "I set those expressions equal:\r\n" );
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document.write( "$7.50x = $5.50x + 25\r\n" );
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document.write( "  7.5x = 5.5x + 25\r\n" );
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document.write( "I subtract 5.5x from both sides:\r\n" );
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document.write( "  2.0x = 25\r\n" );
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document.write( "     x = 25/2\r\n" );
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document.write( "     x = 12.5 hours.\r\n" );
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document.write( "So if I wanted to rent the boat for less than 12.5 hours I would\r\n" );
document.write( "go with rental company A.  I would choose rental company B only \r\n" );
document.write( "if I wanted to rent a fishing boat for more than 12.5 hours. \r\n" );
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document.write( "Edwin

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