Question

Cole, a caterer, is investing some money in equipment and employees to help grow his business. Recently he spent $100 on equipment and hired a server who makes $16 per hour. Cole is hoping to make up these expense at the next job that is scheduled, which pays a base of $50 in addition to $18 per hour that the server works. In theory, this event could pay enough to cancel out Cole's expenditures. How much would the job pay?

Answer 1

Let's start by calculating how much Cole will spend on his server for the next job. If the server makes $16 per hour and works for "x" hours, the cost of the server will be:

16x

In addition to the server's cost, Cole also spent $100 on equipment. So the total amount he needs to make up at the next job is:

16x + 100

Now we need to find out how much the next job will pay. We know that it pays a base of $50 plus $18 per hour that the server works. If the server works for "x" hours, the total amount the job will pay is:

50 + 18x

To break even, the amount Cole makes from the job must be equal to the amount he spent on equipment and the server. So we can set up an equation:

16x + 100 = 50 + 18x

Simplifying and solving for "x", we get:

2x = 50 - 100
2x = -50
x = -25

This doesn't make sense, since you can't have negative hours. It means that the job wouldn't pay enough to cover Cole's expenses. So there's no way for Cole to break even on this job, regardless of how many hours the server works.