A movie theater offers a special pricing for membership. The normal cost is $11\$11$11 per ticket. The membership costs $8.50\$8.50$8.50 per ticket but an initial fee of $60\$60$60 . After how many tickets are both options the same price?

1 answer

To find out after how many tickets both pricing options are the same, we can let \( n \) represent the number of tickets purchased.

  1. Normal ticket price: The cost per ticket is \( 11 \) dollars, so the cost for \( n \) tickets is: \[ \text{Cost}_\text{normal} = 11n \]

  2. Membership ticket price: The membership has an initial fee of \( 60 \) dollars and a cost of \( 8.50 \) dollars per ticket. So the total cost for \( n \) tickets with the membership is: \[ \text{Cost}_\text{membership} = 60 + 8.50n \]

  3. Setting the costs equal: We want to find \( n \) such that: \[ 11n = 60 + 8.50n \]

  4. Solving for \( n \): First, subtract \( 8.50n \) from both sides: \[ 11n - 8.50n = 60 \] This simplifies to: \[ 2.5n = 60 \]

    Next, divide both sides by \( 2.5 \): \[ n = \frac{60}{2.5} = 24 \]

Thus, the two options will cost the same after purchasing 24 tickets.