For your birthday, you received a VISA gift card worth $25 that you can spend wherever you like. You decided to go to the new skate park where they charge $4.50 an hour to skate. Which equation can be used to solve for t, the total amount you will have left on the gift card after h, the number of hours spent at the skate park.
The correct answer and explanation is:
To solve for tt, the total amount left on the gift card after spending hh hours at the skate park, the equation can be written as: t=25−4.50ht = 25 – 4.50h
Explanation:
- The total amount on the gift card is $25, which is the initial amount before any money is spent.
- The skate park charges $4.50 per hour to skate. If hh represents the number of hours spent at the skate park, then the total amount spent is 4.50h4.50h, where each hour costs $4.50.
- To find the remaining balance tt on the card after skating for hh hours, subtract the total amount spent from the original $25.
So, the formula to calculate the remaining amount on the gift card is: t=25−4.50ht = 25 – 4.50h
- Here, 2525 represents the original value of the gift card.
- 4.50h4.50h represents the total cost of skating for hh hours, and the subtraction accounts for the money spent.
- As hh increases, the value of tt will decrease, meaning the longer you skate, the less money remains on the card.
For example:
- If you skate for 1 hour, the total amount spent is 4.50×1=4.504.50 \times 1 = 4.50, so the remaining balance is 25−4.50=20.5025 – 4.50 = 20.50.
- If you skate for 5 hours, the total amount spent is 4.50×5=22.504.50 \times 5 = 22.50, leaving 25−22.50=2.5025 – 22.50 = 2.50 on the card.
This equation allows you to calculate the remaining balance for any number of hours spent at the skate park.