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This equation shows how the amount of time that a receptionist named Terrence spends on the phone is related to the number of phone calls he routes to employees.

t = p + 17

The variable p represents the number phone calls he routes, and the variable t represents the number of minutes he is on the phone. In all, how many phone calls does Terrence have to route to spend a total of 20 minutes on the phone?

phone calls

User Demitrian
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1 Answer

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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.

User Jeff Ward
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