Question

On a recent trip, I took a cab from the airport to my hotel. These were the cab fares posted on the door of the cab: $2.20 for the first 1⁄2 mile and 30 cents for each additional 1/5 mile. How far did I travel if my fare was $17.20? What would my fare be if I were to travel 16.8 miles? What would my fare be if I were to travel n miles? What kind of relationship is this? Justify your response and provide a visual representation (a graph) of the relationship.

Answer 1

We have the fixed cost of $2.20
For every mile travelled the fare is 5 × 30cents = $1.50

If the fare was $17.20, the number of miles travelled is
`(17.20-2.20)/(1.50) = 10` miles

The fare for travelling 16.8 miles is
`2.20+1.5(16.8)=$27.40`

The fare for travelling n miles is
`C=2.20+1.5n`

The relationship is a linear relationship as there is a constant increase of $1.50 for every mile travelled. The graph of the relationship is shown below