The equation representing Hans's cell phone plan cost is y = 50x + 200, where x represents the number of months and y is the total cost.
The student is trying to formulate an equation that can be used to calculate the total cost of Hans's cell phone plan. The initial cost to start the plan is $200, and then there is a monthly charge of $50. Hence, the cost increases by $50 each month.
Therefore, 'x' which represents the number of months should be multiplied by the monthly charge, which is $50. The initial cost of $200 is fixed and does not change with the number of months, so we just add this to the product of 'x' and 50.