Question

Pablo takes classes at both Westside Community College and Pinewood Community College. At Westside, class fees are $98 per credit hour, and at Pinewood,class fees are $115 per credit hour. Pablo is taking a combined total of 17 credit hours at the two schools.Suppose that he is taking w credit hours at Westside. Write an expression for the combined total dollar amount he paid for his class fees.Total paid (in dollars)=?

Answer 1

We know that:

- At Westside, class fees are $98 per credit hour, and at Pinewood, class fees are $115 per credit hour.

- Pablo is taking a combined total of 17 credit hours at the two schools.

- he is taking w credit hours at Westside.

And we must find an expression for the combined total dollar amount he paid for his class fees.

First, we know that class fees are $98 per credit hour at Westside, then the expression for the dollar amount she paid for her class fees at Westside is:

`\begin{gathered} 98w \\ \text{ Where w is the number of credit hours at Westside} \end{gathered}`

Second, we know that he is taking a combined total of 17 credit hours at the two schools, then the credit hours at Pinewood he is taking can be represented as:

`\begin{gathered} \text{ Credit hours at Pinewood}=\text{ total hours}-\text{ Credit hours at Westside} \\ \text{Credit hours at Pinewood}=17-w \end{gathered}`

Now, knowing that class fees are $115 per credit hour at Pinewood, then the dollar amount she paid for her class fees at Pinewood can be expressed as:

`115\cdot(17-w)`

Finally, the expression for the combined total dollar amount he paid for her class fees is:

`\begin{gathered} \text{ total paid}=98w+115\cdot\left(17-w\right) \\ \text{ Simplifying,} \\ \text{ total paid}=98w+1955-115w \\ \text{total paid}=1955-17w \end{gathered}`

ANSWER:

Total paid (in dollars) = 1955 - 17w