Write an equation and solve for x.

Seawall Bike Rental Shop charges a $11 fixed fee plus $9 an hour to rent a bike. Steve paid $56 to rent a bike.



How many hours did he pay to have the bike checked out?.

1 answer

To find out how many hours Steve rented the bike, we can set up an equation based on the information given.

Let \( x \) be the number of hours Steve rented the bike. The total cost for renting the bike can be expressed as:

\[ \text{Total Cost} = \text{Fixed Fee} + (\text{Hourly Rate} \times \text{Number of Hours}) \]

According to the problem, the fixed fee is $11 and the hourly rate is $9. Since Steve paid a total of $56, we can write the equation as:

\[ 56 = 11 + 9x \]

Now, we will solve for \( x \):

  1. Subtract the fixed fee from both sides:

\[ 56 - 11 = 9x \] \[ 45 = 9x \]

  1. Divide both sides by 9:

\[ x = \frac{45}{9} \] \[ x = 5 \]

So, Steve rented the bike for 5 hours.