Question

Which situation is represented by the inequality?

7x + 50 > 4x + 100
A) Molly has $50 and Mary has $100. Molly saves $4 per week and Mary saves $7 per week. How long will it be before Molly has more money than Mary?
B) Molly has $50 and Mary has $100. Molly saves $7 per week and Mary saves $4 per week. How long will it be before Molly has more money than Mary?
C) Molly has $50 and Mary has $100. Molly saves $4 per week and Mary saves $7 per week. How long will it be before Molly and Mary have the same amount of money?
D) Molly has $50 and Mary has $100. Molly saves $7 per week and Mary saves $4 per week. How long will it be before Molly and Mary have the same amount of money?

Answer 1

one side will represent molly's income, and the other side will represent mary's

since it's an inequality, that implies mary's and molly's incomes will not be equal (thus eliminating choices C and D)

now, looking at the acutal numbers: 50 and 100 represent starting amounts of money. one person starts with $50 and the other one starts with $100, since they're on opposite sides of the inequality sign.

7x represents somebody earning $7 per week, and 4x represents somebody earning $4 per week, since these numbers are both being multiplied by x.

now, take a look at the answer choices and see which one is consistent with the way the inequality is written.