Final answer:
To determine the number of days Ella can afford to rent a car, an inequality is set up using the daily rental cost ($63.25), the per-mile charge ($0.07), and her budget ($130). After including the cost for 50 miles driven, the inequality is solved, showing that Ella can afford to rent the car for at most 2 days within her budget.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question asks how to determine the number of days, x, that Ella can afford to rent a car while staying within her budget, given a daily rental cost and a per-mile charge. To solve this, we need to set up an inequality that includes the cost per day, the mileage cost, and Ella's budget.
The cost per day to rent a car is $63.25, and the cost per mile is $0.07. Ella will drive 50 miles and has at most $130 to spend. The inequality to determine the number of days (x) she can rent the car is:
63.25x + 0.07(50) ≤ 130
First, let's calculate the total mileage cost:
0.07(50) = $3.50
The inequality now becomes:
63.25x + 3.50 ≤ 130
Subtract $3.50 from both sides of the inequality:
63.25x ≤ 126.50
Finally, divide both sides by 63.25 to solve for x:
x ≤ 2
Therefore, Ella can afford to rent the car for at most 2 days while staying within her budget.