Question

Video streaming company A charges a one-time $40 membership fee and $2 per video stream. Video streaming company B charges a one-time $20 membership fee and $4 per video stream. Let the variable s represent the amount of videos streamed and let the variable c represent the cost. For how many video streams will the cost be the same for both companies? Which system of equations can be used to solve this problem?

Answer 1

If you would like to know for how many video streams will the cost be the same for both companies, you can calculate this using the following steps:

Company A:
$40 membership fee
$2 per video stream

Company B:
$20 membership fee
$4 per video stream

s ... the amount of videos streamed
c ... the cost

For how many video streams will the cost be the same for both companies?
c = c
40 + 2 * s = 20 + 4 * s
40 - 20 = 4 * s - 2 * s
20 = 2 * s    /2
s = 20 / 2
s = 10 video streams

The cost will be the same for both companies for 10 video streams. 

System of equations used to solve this problem:
c = 40 + 2 * s
c = 20 + 4 * s