A company pays their employees $20 per hour. Using fractional notation, write a proportion that represents how long an employee must work to make $80. Use x to represent the unknown number of hours

Answer 1

To find out how many hours an employee must work to make $80 at a pay rate of $20 per hour, we can set up a proportion using fractional notation.

Let's denote the number of hours worked as \( x \).

The proportion can be set up as follows:

\[ \frac{20}{1} = \frac{80}{x} \]

This representation states that the ratio of the pay rate to 1 hour is equal to the ratio of the total earnings of $80 to the unknown number of hours \( x \).

Now, if you solve for \( x \):

1. Cross-multiply: \[ 20x = 80 \]

2. Divide both sides by 20: \[ x = \frac{80}{20} = 4 \]

Thus, the employee must work \( 4 \) hours to earn $80. The proportion in fractional notation is:

\[ \frac{20}{1} = \frac{80}{x} \]