Question

A lawn care company charges a $10 tip fee plus an additional fee based on the square footage of the lawn. If the rate is $0.05 per square foot, calculate the total cost for a lawn with an area of 500 square feet. Explain how the pricing model works.

Answer 1

To calculate the total cost for a 500 square foot lawn, multiply the area by the per square foot rate ($0.05) and add the $10 tip fee, leading to a total of $35. The pricing model includes a fixed fee plus a variable fee based on usage.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking to calculate the total cost for mowing a lawn with an area of 500 square feet when a lawn care company charges a $10 tip fee and a rate of $0.05 per square foot. To calculate the total cost, you need to understand the pricing model, which consists of a fixed charge (also known as a one-time fee or base rate) plus a variable charge that depends on the quantity consumed or used (in this case, the square footage). The fixed charge here is the tip fee.

Here is the step-by-step calculation:

The total cost is calculated as follows:

Variable cost = 500 square feet * $0.05/square foot = $25

Fixed cost (tip fee) = $10
Total cost = Variable cost + Fixed cost = $25 + $10 = $35

The correct option in the final answer is that the total cost for mowing a lawn of 500 square feet will be $35.