Final answer:
The price of a burger is related to an economic tradeoff within a budget constraint, namely the number of bus tickets given up to afford an extra burger, not directly to the number of patties in the burger.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks whether the price of a burger is a function of the number of patties. Based on the given information, the price of a burger is not explicitly tied to the number of patties; rather, the scenario described deals with an economic tradeoff between buying burgers and bus tickets within a budget constraint. The cost of a burger, in this case, is considered in terms of opportunity cost, which is the number of bus tickets Alphonso must forgo to afford an extra burger. Since each bus ticket costs $0.50, he would need to give up four bus tickets, which amounts to $2, to buy another burger. This means that the true cost of the burger is four bus tickets, but that does not necessarily establish a direct function between the price of a burger and the number of patties it contains.