Question

Jada earns $7 per hour mowing her neighbors’ lawns. Andre gets paid $5 per hour for the first hour of babysitting and $8 per hour for any additional hours he babysits. What is the number of hours they both can work so that they get paid the same amount?

Answer 1

Jada

7, 14, 21

Andre

5, 13, 21

They can both work for 3 hours. Then they get paid the same amount.

Answer 2

3 hours

Explanation:

Let t be the number of hours of work.

Jada earns $7 per hour mowing her neighbors’ lawns. We can represent her earnings using a linear equation.

J(t) = 7 t

Andre gets paid $5 per hour for the first hour of babysitting and $8 per hour for any additional hours he babysits. We can represent his earnings using a linear equation.

A(t) = 8 (t - 1) + 5

When they get paid the same amount J(t) = A(t). Then,

7 t = 8 (t - 1) + 5

7 t = 8 t - 8 + 5

t = 3