Gina takes classes at both Westside Community College and Pinewood Community College. At Westside, class fees are $98

Question

per credit hour, and at Pinewood, class fees are$115
per credit hour. Gina is taking a combined total of 13
credit hours at the two schools.

Suppose that she is taking w
credit hours at Westside. Write an expression for the combined total dollar amount she paid for her class fees.

Answer 1

Let \( w \) represent the number of credit hours that Gina is taking at Westside Community College. Since Gina is taking a total of 13 credit hours, the number of credit hours she is taking at Pinewood Community College can be expressed as \( 13 - w \).

The cost per credit hour at Westside is $98, so the total cost for the credit hours at Westside is: \[ 98w \]

At Pinewood, the cost per credit hour is $115, so the total cost for the credit hours at Pinewood is: \[ 115(13 - w) \]

Now, we can combine these two amounts to find the total amount Gina paid in class fees. The expression for the combined total dollar amount she paid for her class fees is: \[ 98w + 115(13 - w) \]

To simplify this expression, we can distribute the \( 115 \): \[ 98w + 115 \cdot 13 - 115w \] \[ = 98w + 1495 - 115w \] \[ = -17w + 1495 \]

Thus, the expression for the combined total dollar amount she paid for her class fees is: \[ -17w + 1495 \]