A town's total allowance for firefighter's wages and benefits in a new budget is $600,000. If wages are calculated at $40,000 per firefighter and benefits at $20,000 per firefighter, write an equation whose solution is the number of firefighters the town can employ if they spend their whole budget. Let x represent the number of fire fighters they higher.

Question

A) 60,000x = 600,000
B) 20,000x + 40,000 = 600,000
C) 40,000x - 20,000 = 600,000
D) 40,000x + 20,000 = 600,000

Answer 1

To find the total expenses for the firefighters, you need to account for both their wages and benefits.

Given:

• Wages per firefighter = $40,000
• Benefits per firefighter = $20,000

Thus, the total cost for one firefighter is: \[ \text{Total cost per firefighter} = \text{Wages} + \text{Benefits} = 40,000 + 20,000 = 60,000 \]

If \( x \) represents the number of firefighters, the total cost for \( x \) firefighters is: \[ \text{Total cost for } x \text{ firefighters} = 60,000x \]

The town's total budget for firefighters is $600,000. Therefore, the equation to represent this situation is: \[ 60,000x = 600,000 \]

Thus the correct choice is: A) 60,000x = 600,000.