Final answer:
After mowing 30 yards, the profits of Leo's lawn mowing service and Ryan's yards will be the same. The equation set up to find this equal profit point is 30y - 300 = 20y, which solves to y = 30.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks after how many yards will the profits of Leo's lawn mowing service and Ryan's yards be the same. To find this, we need to set up an equation to represent the situation.
Leo has $300 in start-up expenses and earns $30 for each yard, so his profit equation is:
ProfitLeo = 30y - 300
Ryan doesn't have any start-up expenses and earns $20 for each yard, so his profit equation is:
ProfitRyan = 20y
To find the point where both profits are the same, we set the two equations equal to each other:
30y - 300 = 20y
By solving this equation for y (the number of yards), we get:
10y = 300
y = 30
Hence, after mowing 30 yards, both businesses will have the same profit.