The equation C = 16 + am represents the total cost of the phone calls, where C is the total cost, a is the additional charge per minute, and m is the number of minutes used. To find the number of minutes used, we can solve the equation for m.
m = (C - 16) / a
This equation can be derived as follows:
* Subtract 16 from both sides of the equation C = 16 + am to get C - 16 = am
* Divide both sides of the equation C - 16 = am by a to get (C - 16) / a = m
Therefore, the equation m = (C - 16) / a can be used to find the number of minutes a customer used if we know a and C.
For example, if the total cost of the phone calls is C = $32 and the additional charge per minute is a = $0.05, then the number of minutes used is m = (C - 16) / a = (32 - 16) / 0.05 = 40 minutes.