A local arcade charges $15.00 for unlimited play time for the first hour, then $5.00 per additional hour. On a piece of paper, write an equation that represents the cost to play, C , based on the number of hours played, h. Then use the equation to calculate how much it would cost to play for three hours. Enter your answer for C , including cents.(1 point)

Question

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Answer 1

To represent the cost to play based on the number of hours played, we can set up the equation as follows:

\[ C = \begin{cases} 15.00 & \text{if } 0 < h \leq 1 \ 15.00 + 5.00 \times (h - 1) & \text{if } h > 1 \end{cases} \]

Now, let's calculate the cost for playing for three hours (h = 3):

Since \( h > 1 \), we will use the second part of the equation:

\[ C = 15.00 + 5.00 \times (3 - 1) \] \[ C = 15.00 + 5.00 \times 2 \] \[ C = 15.00 + 10.00 \] \[ C = 25.00 \]

Thus, the cost to play for three hours is:

\[ C = 25.00 \]

So the answer is \(C = 25.00\).