Question

3. Your family is planning a road trip stretching from coast to coast for this summer. The route and the time frame are nearly set; now you need to plan out the finances. Your parents have decided that rental of an RV will be cheaper than staying in hotels, but they would like an estimate on the total cost. Can you help them?

a. To rent an RV, the following costs apply: $125 per day, plus 32 cents per mile. Additionally, to drop off the RV on the other side of the country, there is an extra fee of $2,500. Write an equation to describe the total cost of RV rental.

b. Your parents have two options for their road trip plans. The first option stretches over 3500 miles and includes fewer stops but more beautiful scenery. It will take about a week and a half (11 days). The second option stretches over just 3000 miles, but it includes more overnight stops and will therefore take two weeks (14 days). Which of these two options is cheaper?

c. Your little sister really wants to take the two-week trip, but your parents really want to keep the RV rental cost under $5,000. You can compromise by either taking a more direct route (lessening the miles) or by stopping for less overnight stays (lessening the days of the rental). What would the domains be for these two compromises? Justify why you think your domains are correct.

d. Write and solve equations to find how many miles or how many days you would have to eliminate in order to stay under the $5,000 budget. Explain each step as you solve your equations. Finally, make a recommendation to your parents about which compromise you think is best.

Answer 1

Explanation:

a. To write an equation describing the total cost of RV rental, we can use the given information:

Let x be the number of days of rental.

Let y be the number of miles driven.

The total cost of RV rental can be calculated as follows:

Total cost = (125 * x) + (0.32 * y) + 2500

b. To compare the cost of the two options, we need to calculate the total cost for each option.

Option 1:

x = 11 days

y = 3500 miles

Total cost = (125 * 11) + (0.32 * 3500) + 2500

Option 2:

x = 14 days

y = 3000 miles

Total cost = (125 * 14) + (0.32 * 3000) + 2500

Compare the total costs of both options to determine which one is cheaper.

c. To compromise and keep the rental cost under $5,000, we can adjust either the number of miles driven or the number of days of rental.

For the first compromise (lessening the miles), let's assume the new number of miles driven is y1.

The domain for the compromise in miles would be 0 ≤ y1 ≤ 3500, as you cannot drive more miles than the original option or negative miles.

For the second compromise (lessening the days of rental), let's assume the new number of days of rental is x1.

The domain for the compromise in days would be 0 ≤ x1 ≤ 14, as you cannot have more days of rental than the original option or negative days.

The justification for these domains is that they restrict the values within the range of the original options while allowing for adjustments in the desired direction.

d. To find out how many miles or how many days need to be eliminated to stay under the $5,000 budget, we can set up and solve equations.

For the compromise in miles (y1):

(125 * x) + (0.32 * y1) + 2500 ≤ 5000

For the compromise in days (x1):

(125 * x1) + (0.32 * y) + 2500 ≤ 5000

Solve each equation by isolating the variable to determine the maximum allowed value for y1 or x1, respectively.

Finally, after solving the equations, compare the maximum allowed values for y1 and x1 and consider other factors like practicality, time constraints, and preferences to make a recommendation to your parents about which compromise is best.