Maria opens a savings account with $50 and then saves $19 each week. How many weeks will it take for her account to reach $259? Represent this problem with an equation in the form px+q=r

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1 answer

Let's represent the given information using an equation in the form \( px + q = r \).

  1. Let \( x \) represent the number of weeks.
  2. Maria starts with $50, which we can represent as \( q \).
  3. Each week, she saves an additional $19, which we represent as \( px \) where \( p = 19 \).
  4. We want to find out how many weeks it will take for her account to reach $259, which we represent as \( r \).

The equation representing her total savings after \( x \) weeks can be written as:

\[ 19x + 50 = 259 \]

Now, this is in the form \( px + q = r \) where:

  • \( p = 19 \)
  • \( q = 50 \)
  • \( r = 259 \)

This is the equation representing the problem. To find the number of weeks \( x \), we can solve the equation:

  1. Subtract 50 from both sides:

\[ 19x = 259 - 50 \]

\[ 19x = 209 \]

  1. Now, divide by 19:

\[ x = \frac{209}{19} \]

\[ x = 11 \]

So, it will take Maria 11 weeks to reach $259 in her savings account.