An export company is reserving some containers to ship cargo overseas, and the expense must be under $45,000. A standard container costs $1,800 and a large container costs $3,500.

Question

Write the inequality in standard form that describes this situation. Use the given numbers and the following variables.
x = the number of standard containers
y = the number of large containers

Answer 1

To write the inequality in standard form that describes the situation, we can represent the total cost of the containers using the variables provided.

Let:

• \( x \) = the number of standard containers
• \( y \) = the number of large containers

The cost of the standard container is $1,800, and the cost of the large container is $3,500. The total cost must be less than or equal to $45,000.

We can express the total cost as follows:

\[ 1800x + 3500y \leq 45000 \]

This is the inequality that describes the situation.

In standard form, it can also be written as:

\[ 1800x + 3500y - 45000 \leq 0 \]

Both forms represent the same relationship.