Question

You charge $7.00 to baby-sit for 2 hours. Last night you earned $17.50. How long did you baby-sit?

Answer 1

howdy!

lets set up a proportion based on the amount you earned and the rate you charge:

let x be the number of hours you babysat.

you earned $17.50 for x hours, and you charge $7.00 for 2 hours.

so, we can set up the proportion:

$\frac{17.50}{x} = \frac{7.00}{2}$

cross-multiply to solve for x:

$17.50 * 2 = 7.00 * x$

$35 = 7x$

divide both sides by 7:

$x = \frac{35}{7}$

$x = 5$

you babysat for 5 hours.