An electrician charges $60 as a one-time fee plus an additional $55 per hour. If the total bill is $252.50, how many hours did it take for the electrician to complete the repair?

1 answer

To find out how many hours it took for the electrician to complete the repair, we need to set up an equation based on the information provided.

The electrician charges a one-time fee of $60 and an hourly rate of $55. Let \( h \) represent the number of hours worked. The total cost can be expressed as:

\[ \text{Total Cost} = \text{One-time Fee} + (\text{Hourly Rate} \times \text{Hours Worked}) \] Substituting the known values, we have:

\[ 252.50 = 60 + 55h \]

To solve for \( h \), we first subtract the one-time fee from both sides:

\[ 252.50 - 60 = 55h \]

Calculating the left side:

\[ 192.50 = 55h \]

Next, we divide both sides by 55 to find \( h \):

\[ h = \frac{192.50}{55} \]

Calculating this division:

\[ h = 3.5 \]

Thus, it took the electrician \( \boxed{3.5} \) hours to complete the repair.