Question

Tom is a car salesman. He is paid a salary of $1600 per month plus $300 for each car

that he sells. His salary can be modeled by the equation f(x) = 300x + 1600 where x
is the number of cars sold.

Answer 1

Tom's monthly salary, based on car sales, is modeled by the linear equation f(x) = 300x + 1600, where x is the number of cars sold and f(x) denotes his total earnings. To determine his earnings, multiply the number of cars sold by $300 and then add the base salary of $1600.

Step-by-step explanation:

The main answer to the question regarding Tom's salary can be described using a linear equation. In this case, the equation given for Tom's salary is f(x) = 300x + 1600, where x represents the number of cars sold. The salary is composed of a fixed part, which is a base salary of $1600 per month, and a variable part, which is a commission of $300 per each car sold.

In order to calculate Tom's total monthly earnings, we simply need to plug in the number of cars he sells into the equation. For example, if Tom sells 5 cars in a month, we would calculate his earnings as follows:
f(5) = 300(5) + 1600 = 1500 + 1600 = $3100.

This type of linear model is common in businesses where employees are paid a base salary plus a commission for their sales. It provides an explanation for how Tom's overall earnings increase linearly with each additional car he sells and clearly delineates the structure of his compensation.