Anthony got a job babysitting. Each hour he works, he will be paid $\$ 8.00$. As a bonus, he will earn an additional $\[tex]$ 1.50$[/tex] per hour for each child he watches. If his total hourly rate is $\$ 12.50$, how many children does he watch?

Question

Write an equation in the form $px + q = r$ to represent this problem.

Answer 1

To represent the problem in the form of the equation \( px + q = r \), we first need to identify the variables involved.

Let:

• \( x \): the number of children Anthony watches.

Now, we know the following:

1. Anthony is paid $8.00 for each hour worked.
2. He earns an additional $1.50 per hour for each child he watches.

Thus, his total hourly earnings can be expressed as:

\[ \text{Total pay} = 8.00 + 1.50 \cdot x \]

We also know that his total hourly rate is $12.50. Therefore, we set up the equation based on his total earnings:

\[ 8.00 + 1.50x = 12.50 \]

This equation is in the desired form \( px + q = r \), where:

• \( p = 1.50 \)
• \( q = 8.00 \)
• \( r = 12.50 \)

So, the final equation representing the problem is:

\[ 1.50x + 8.00 = 12.50 \]