Jessica needs to rent a car while on vacation.

Question

Jessica needs to rent a car while on vacation. The rental company charges $19.95, plus 15 cents for each mile driven. If Jessica only has $40 to spend on the car rental, what is the maximum number of miles she can drive?

miles ?

Answer 1

The total charge for the miles driven will be .15x, where x is the number of miles that were driven.

The flat rate (19.95) plus the charge for miles driven (.15x) will equal 40.

19.95 + .15x = 40                           Formula derived from problem

19.95 + .15x - 19.95 = 40 - 19.95    Subtract 19.95 from each side

.15x = 20.05                                  Simplify

.15x/.15 = 20.05/.15                       Divide each side by .15

x = 133.67                                    Simplify

Since the rental company will likely round up the miles, Jessica will have to limit her driving to 133 miles.