Practice Questions
- Jim rented a lawnmower from 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. He paid a total of $53.04. What was the hourly rental fee? (Note: You may not use a calculator for this problem.)
A. $5.58 B. $6.24 C. $6.63 D. $7.07
- A New York City taxi charges an initial fee of $2.50 plus $0.50 for every 1/5 of a mile traveled. If Jim’s total fare (not including tip) equals $14.50, how many miles did Jim travel?
A. 4.8 miles B. 5.8 miles C. 24 miles D. 29 miles
Answers and Explanations
- The correct answer is B.
First, you need to determine the number of hours that Jim rented the lawnmower for: There are 3 hours from 9:00 a.m. till noon (12:00 p.m.) and 5.5 hours from noon till 5:30 p.m., for a total of 3 + 5.5 = 8.5 hours. Then you can find the hourly cost by dividing the total cost by the number of hours:
Hence, Choice (B) is correct.
- The correct answer is A.
The total fare (not including tip) consists of a set initial fee of $2.50 plus a variable cost depending on the number of miles traveled, x:
$14.50 = $2.50 + variable cost
Hence, the variable cost equals $12.00.
Because every 1/5 of a mile traveled costs an additional $0.50, multiplying by 5 shows that 1 mile costs $2.50. Divide the variable cost ($12) by the cost per mile ($2.50) to find the number of miles traveled:
Hence, Choice (A) is the correct answer.