Question

A cell phone company charges a flat tire of $3.99 per month, with an additional charge of $0.05 per minute. How many minutes did Casey talk on her cell phone of her monthly bill was $38.44?

Answer 1

To find out how many minutes Casey talked on her cell phone, we can set up the equation based on the information provided.

Let \( m \) be the number of minutes Casey talked. The total cost of the cell phone bill can be represented as:

\[
\text{Total Cost} = \text{Flat Fee} + (\text{Cost per Minute} \times \text{Number of Minutes})
\]

From the problem, we know:

- Flat Fee: $3.99
- Cost per Minute: $0.05
- Total Cost: $38.44

Substituting the known values into the equation:

\[
38.44 = 3.99 + 0.05m
\]

To isolate \( m \), first, we need to subtract the flat fee from both sides:

\[
38.44 - 3.99 = 0.05m
\]

Calculating the left side:

\[
34.45 = 0.05m
\]

Next, divide both sides by 0.05 to solve for \( m \):

\[
m = \frac{34.45}{0.05}
\]

Calculating this gives:

\[
m = 689
\]

Therefore, Casey talked for **689 minutes** on her cell phone.