Final answer:
To find the number of phone calls that Terrence has to route to spend a total of 20 minutes on the phone, we use the equation t = p + 17 and solve for p.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the number of phone calls that Terrence has to route to spend a total of 20 minutes on the phone, we can use the given equation t = p + 17, where t represents the number of minutes Terrence is on the phone and p represents the number of phone calls he routes. We want to find the value of p when t is 20.
Substituting t = 20 into the equation, we get 20 = p + 17. To isolate p, we subtract 17 from both sides of the equation. This gives us p = 20 - 17, which simplifies to p = 3.
Therefore, Terrence has to route 3 phone calls to spend a total of 20 minutes on the phone.