Leslie decides to join a gym. She must pay a monthly fee plus a one-time fee to open a membership. This situation can be modeled by the expression 55x + 80. Explain how each number and letter in the expression relates to the problem.

Question

anonymous · Answer

There are two parts to the problem, the monthly fee and the one-time fee. If you look at the expression, it also has two parts. One of those parts changes and one doesn't. The part that doesn't change, 80, therefore must be the one-time fee. The other part has to be the monthly fee. Now we just have to figure out what the 55 is and what the x is. A monthly fee is something that is the same each month you're a member, but the total fee you pay depends on how many months you belong. In 55x, the 55 stays the same so it must be the monthly fee. The x can change, so it must be the number of months you're a member.