Question

Suppose you have a part time job delivering packages. Your employer pays you a flat rate of 9.5 per hour. You discover that a competitor pays employees $2 per hour plus $3 per delivery. How many deliveries would the competitors employees have to have to make in four hours to earn the same pay you earn in a four hour shift?
- How can you write a system of equations to model this situation?
- Which method should you sue to solve the system?
- How can you interpret the solution in the context of the problem

Answer 1

- How can you write a system of equations to model this situation?
Let y = your pay 
      x = deliveries 

Your equations would be written as: 

y=9.50*4 
y=2*4+3x 

- Which method should you sue to solve the system?
Substitution method

- How can you interpret the solution in the context of the problem
Substituting y for 9.50*4: 
9.50*4 = 2*4 + 3x 

Simplifying: 
38=8+3x 

Solving: 
30=3x 
x=10 

Therefore, you need 10 deliveries to get the same pay as the competitor.