A trolley charges $3.00 just to get in the car and $1.00 for each mile traveled. How much would it cost to travel 5 miles? 8 miles? 20 miles?

Question

What is the cost per mile for each of the distances traveled? You can use your Zearn calculator to help you solve.
Number of miles (m) Cost in dollars (c) Cost per mile (
m
c
​
)
5 $8.00
8 $11.00
20 $23.00

Answer 1

To calculate the total cost for each distance traveled, we can use the formula:

\[ \text{Total Cost} = \text{Initial Charge} + (\text{Cost per Mile} \times \text{Number of Miles}) \]

Given:

• Initial charge = $3.00
• Cost per mile = $1.00

Now we can calculate the total cost for each distance:

1. For 5 miles: \[ \text{Total Cost} = 3 + (1 \times 5) = 3 + 5 = 8 \text{ dollars} \]

2. For 8 miles: \[ \text{Total Cost} = 3 + (1 \times 8) = 3 + 8 = 11 \text{ dollars} \]

3. For 20 miles: \[ \text{Total Cost} = 3 + (1 \times 20) = 3 + 20 = 23 \text{ dollars} \]

Now let's calculate the cost per mile for each distance:

1. For 5 miles: \[ \text{Cost per mile} = \frac{\text{Total Cost}}{\text{Number of Miles}} = \frac{8}{5} = 1.60 \text{ dollars per mile} \]

2. For 8 miles: \[ \text{Cost per mile} = \frac{11}{8} = 1.375 \text{ dollars per mile} \]

3. For 20 miles: \[ \text{Cost per mile} = \frac{23}{20} = 1.15 \text{ dollars per mile} \]

In summary, the results are:

| Number of miles (m) | Cost in dollars (c) | Cost per mile \(\frac{c}{m}\) | |----------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------| | 5 | $8.00 | $1.60 | | 8 | $11.00 | $1.375 | | 20 | $23.00 | $1.15 |