Question

Bill has $590 in his account. He earned $15 per hour for x hours, and deposited his earnings into his account. Jeremy has $545 in his account. He earned $20 per hour for x hours, and deposited his earnings into his account. They both worked the same number of hours and now have the same amount of money. What is the number of hours that each person worked? Write and solve an equation.

Answer 1

9 hours

Explanation:

Let's obtain the expressions for the amount of money each has after working for x hours.

Bill

Original amount= $590

Amount earned per hour= $15

Amount earned in x hours= $15x

Final amount= $(590 +15x)

Jeremy

Jeremy's original amount= $545

Amount earned in x hours= $20x

Final amount= $(545 +20x)

Since both have the same amount of money at the end, we can equate the final amount of money Bill and Jeremy have with each other.

590 +15x= 545 +20x

To solve the equation, first bring all the x terms to one side and the constants to the other.

20x -15x= 590 -545

5x= 45

Divide both sides by 9:

x= 45 ÷5

x= 9

Thus, each person worked for 9 hours.