Maria is organizing a charity bake sale. She has already spent $20 on baking supplies and plans to sell each batch of cookies for $15. Let x represent the number of batches of cookies Maria sells, and let y represent the total amount of money she makes from selling the cookies. Which of the following linear equations represents the total amount of money Maria makes from selling x batches of cookies?

Question

A) y = 15x - 20
B) x = 15y - 20
C) y = 20x - 5
D) y = 15x + 20

Answer 1

To determine the correct linear equation that represents the total amount of money Maria makes from selling \( x \) batches of cookies, we need to consider her costs and her revenue from the sales.

1. Maria makes $15 for each batch of cookies she sells, so the revenue from selling \( x \) batches is \( 15x \).
2. However, Maria has already spent $20 on baking supplies. Therefore, we need to account for this initial cost when computing her total net earnings.

The total amount of money she makes after accounting for the costs can be expressed as:

\[ y = 15x - 20 \]

Where:

• \( y \) is the total amount of money Maria makes,
• \( 15x \) is the total revenue from selling \( x \) batches,
• \( -20 \) accounts for the initial costs.

Thus, the correct linear equation that represents the total amount of money Maria makes from selling \( x \) batches of cookies is:

A) \( y = 15x - 20 \).