Question

Marta has $840 in her savings account. She earns $15 per hour working at a food truck and puts all of her earnings into the bank savings account.  Marta is saving up for a trip to Washington DC that costs $2650.     Write an inequality representing her money saved that Marta could use to determine how many hours she must work in order to afford her trip.  Assume she makes no withdrawals, and only deposits money from her job.    Define the variable. (3 points)       Solve the inequality to determine how many hours she must work in order to go on the trip to Washington DC.  Show your work. What does your answer mean?  (3 points)  

Answer 1

Let h = the number of hours Marta works

Her savings in her account can be calculated by:

840 + 15h

This needs to be at least $2650 for her trip, so an inequality to solve:

840 + 15h ≥ 2650,  where h is the number of hours worked

Now solve:

15h ≥ 1810

h ≥ 1810/15

h ≥ $120\frac{2}{3}$

Marta needs to work at least $120\frac{2}{3}$ hours in order to have enough money for her trip.