Question

Lucy works as a tutor for $7 an hour and as a waitress for $12 an hour. This month, she worked a combined total of 86 hours at her two jobs.
Lett be the number of hours Lucy worked as a tutor this month. Write an expression for the combined total dollar amount she earned this month.

Answer 1

Answer:   7t + 12(86-t)

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Explanation:

• t = number of hours she worked as a tutor
• 86-t = number of hours she worked as a waitress

The two expressions mentioned add to 86, to indicate the total number of hours for both jobs combined.

• 7t = amount earned as a tutor
• 12(86-t) = amount earned as a waitress

We multiply the number of hours by the wage per hour to get the amount earned per job.

Lastly, we add those two subtotals to get the grand total earned

7t + 12(86-t)

Optionally you can distribute the 12 through and combine like terms. I'll leave it like this because I think it's more descriptive to show the two amounts earned from each job.

If you wanted to simplify 7t+12(86-t), then you would get 1032-5t or -5t+1032