Question

Mighty Steamer charges a $45 service fee and an hourly charge to steam clean carpets in a home. If Mighty Steamer charged Mr. Young $360 to steam clean the carpets in his home, then which equation represents the situation and what is the hourly charge?



Show your work on the sketch pad.

Answer 1

Let h = the hourly charge (in dollars) and assume the job took 7 hours. The equation is

45 + 7h = 360.

Solve:
7h = 360 − 45
7h = 315
h = 315 ÷ 7
h = 45.

Hourly charge = $45 per hour.

(Generally, if the job took t hours the equation would be 45 + t·h = 360, so h = (360 − 45)/t.)