Question

An exterminator charges a base fee of $130 plus $75 for each hour of service. Write the equation to model the total charge,y, for a service call that lasts x hours.

Answer 1

y = 130 + 75x

My answer is based on the understanding that y is the charge for the service call, x is the number of hours spent on the service call and 130 is the base charge for the service.

Therefore, the 130 dollars is the baseline cost, as it is the charge even if 0 hours are spent. The extra 75 dollars per hour is the additional charge that has to be paid for every each hour that is spent on the job.

Therefore, the equation should be y = 130 + 75x.