Question

Eric and Nancy both had a successful year selling fish tanks for theirrespective employers, and so they were both given raises.Eric: Eric's base salary is still $1400, but now he makes a commission of$100 for each fish tank that he sells.Nancy: Nancy now gets a base salary of $500 per month, but her commissionhas stayed the same at $250 per fish tank.Eric and Nancy still want to make sure that they contribute the same amountto their total monthly income, and Nancy proposes using algebra to figureout how many fish tanks that they would each need to sell. She tells Ericthat he can calculate his monthly income by using the formula f(x) = 100x +1400. She says that she can calculate her own salary by using the functiong(x)=250x + 500.1 What does the variable x represent in Nancy's formulas?How do you know?

Answer 1

The variable x represents the number of fish tanks he/she sells.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that Eric's base salary is still $1400, but now he makes a commission of

$100 for each fish tank that he sells and Nancy now gets a base salary of $500 per month, but her commission has stayed the same at $250 per fish tank.

Eric's total income would be;

$1400 plus $100 times the number of fish tanks he sells.

`f(x)=1400+100x`

and Nancy's total income would be;

$500 plus $250 times the number of fish tanks she sells.

`f(x)=500+250x`

Therefore, the variable x represents the number of fish tanks he/she sells.

The number of fish tanks each of them sells will determine the total commission and also determines their total income.