Final answer:
It would take 20 months for the cost of the Cox internet plan plus the $200 router to equal the cost of the Spectrum internet plan without a free router. This is calculated by equating the monthly costs and solving for the number of months.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking which internet service plan is more cost-effective over time by comparing the total costs of two different plans, considering the initial cost of purchasing a router for one of the plans.
To find out in how many months the cost of the Cox plan equals the Spectrum plan, you would set up an equation where the cost of the Spectrum plan, which is $50 per month, equals the cost of the Cox plan, $40 per month, plus the cost of the router, $200.
The equation would be:
50m = 40m + 200
Where m represents the number of months. By subtracting 40m from both sides of the equation, we get:
10m = 200
Dividing both sides by 10 gives us the number of months:
m = 20
Therefore, it would take 20 months for the cost of the Cox internet plan, including the router, to equal the cost of the Spectrum internet plan without the free router.