Question

Niall owes $187 to his cousin. However, he doesn't have any money right now. He hopes to earn some money by painting a house. He gets paid $34 for every 2 hours he paints. Which equation of a line models y, the amount of money he will have after paying back his cousin, in terms of x, the number of hours he spends painting?

Answer 1

The equation would be 34 x 2x-187= y. 

Answer 2

`y=17x-187` where x>11

Explanation:

Niall gets $34 for 2 hours.

So, he gets
`34/2=17` dollars per hour.

Now he owes $187 to his cousin.

Let the number of hours he works be = x

Let the money left with him after paying his cousin be = y

So, the equation forms:

`y=17x-187`

Rather we can say it is :

`y=17x-187` where x>11

If we want to know how many hours are needed to pay the debt, we can consider y = 0

`17x-187=0`

`17x=187`

`x=187/17`

So, x = 11 hours

He needs 11 hours of work to pay back his cousin and after that all his earnings is 'y'. When x>11 then 'y' will have some money left.