Josh works as a tutor for $11

an hour and as a waiter for $15
an hour. This month, he worked a combined total of 106
hours at his two jobs.

Let t
be the number of hours Josh worked as a tutor this month. Write an expression for the combined total dollar amount he earned this month.

1 answer

To create an expression for the combined total dollar amount Josh earned this month, we can break down his earnings from both jobs using the variable \( t \) (the number of hours worked as a tutor).

  1. Tutoring Earnings: Josh earns $11 for each hour he works as a tutor. If he worked \( t \) hours, his earnings from tutoring would be: \[ 11t \]

  2. Waiting Earnings: Josh also works as a waiter and earns $15 for each hour he works. The total number of hours he worked at both jobs is 106 hours. Therefore, the number of hours he worked as a waiter can be expressed as: \[ 106 - t \] (since the total hours worked is 106, the hours worked as a waiter is the total hours minus the hours worked as a tutor).

    His earnings from waiting can therefore be expressed as: \[ 15(106 - t) \]

  3. Combined Earnings: To find his total earnings from both jobs, we combine his tutoring earnings and waiting earnings: \[ \text{Total Earnings} = 11t + 15(106 - t) \]

Now, simplifying that expression gives: \[ \text{Total Earnings} = 11t + 15 \times 106 - 15t \] \[ = 11t + 1590 - 15t \] \[ = (11t - 15t) + 1590 \] \[ = -4t + 1590 \]

Thus, the expression for the combined total dollar amount Josh earned this month is: \[ \boxed{-4t + 1590} \]