Question

To call London, a long-distance phone company charges a fixed rate for the first minute and a different rate for each additional minute. If a 12-minute phone call costs $2.35 and a 25-minute call costs $3.65, write a system of equations to determine their rates.

Answer 1

To calculate the rates for a long-distance call to London, we create a system of equations using the cost of 12-minute and 25-minute calls. The system can then be solved to find the fixed rate for the first minute and the variable rate for each additional minute.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the rates charged by the phone company for calling London, we need to set up two equations based on the given information. Let's let x represent the fixed rate for the first minute and y represent the rate for each additional minute.

The cost of a 12-minute call is $2.35. This means the first minute costs x dollars and the remaining 11 minutes cost 11y dollars. So, our first equation is:

x + 11y = 2.35

The cost of a 25-minute call is $3.65. Similarly, the first minute costs x dollars, and the remaining 24 minutes cost 24y dollars. So, our second equation is:

x + 24y = 3.65

Now we have a system of equations:

1. x + 11y = 2.35
2. x + 24y = 3.65

By solving this system of equations, we can determine the values of x and y and thus find out the fixed rate for the first minute and the rate for each additional minute.