Question

After college graduation, Mario received employment offers from two companies. The first company offered a yearly salary of $31,000 with an annual raise of $1,500 and the second company offered a starting salary of $28,500 with an annual raise of $2,000. How many years will it take for the salaries to be the same?

Answer 1

The first thing we must do for this case is to define a variable:
x: number of years
y: total salary
We have then:
For first company:
y = 1500x + 31000
For second company:
y = 2000x + 28500
Equaling both equations we have:
1500x + 31000 = 2000x + 28500
Clearing x:
2000x - 1500x = 31000 - 28500
500x = 2500
x = 2500/500
x = 5
Answer:
It will take for the salaries to be the same about:
x = 5 years