9.3k views
3 votes
Two different telephone carriers offer the following plans that a person is considering. Company A has a monthly fee of $20 and charges of $.05/min for calls. Company B has a monthly fee of $5 and charges $.10/min for calls.The model of the total cost of company A's plan, using m for the minutes is:AnswerThe model of the total cost of company B's plan, using m for the minutes is:AnswerHow many minutes of calling would make the two plans equal? AnswerIf a person averages 200 minutes a month which plan makes the most economic sense?Answer

Two different telephone carriers offer the following plans that a person is considering-example-1
User GeorgDangl
by
3.5k points

1 Answer

5 votes

The total cost of each company can be calculated by adding the monthly fee and the cost of the calls, then we can formulate the following expression:

Total cost = monthly fee + cost for calls

Company A has a monthly fee of $20, then we can rewrite the above equation like this:

Cost company A = 20 + cost for calls

The cost for calls can be calculated by multiplying the fee per minute and the calling minutes, by calling x to the calling minutes "m", we can rewrite the above equation like this:

Cost company A = 0.05m + 20

Similarly for company B, we can write the following equation:

Cost company B = 0.1m + 5

By equating these equations, we can find how many minutes of calling would make the two plans equal, then we get:

Cost company A = Cost company B

0.05m + 20 = 0.1m + 5

From this expression, we can solve for m to get:

0.05m + 20 = 0.1m + 5

20 - 5 = 0.1m - 0.05m

15 = 0.05m

15/0.05 = m

300 = m

m = 300

Then, 300 minutes of calling would make the two plans equal

By replacing 200 for m into both models, we get:

Cost company A = 0.05(200) + 20 = 30

Cost company B = 0.1(200) + 5 = 25

As ou can see company B charges less than company A, then the plan that makes the most economic sense is company B

User David Gourde
by
3.5k points