An office equipment company rents copier a monthly fee plus a fee per copy. Julie Simms rents a copier and was charged $175 for making 1500 copies in March and $223 for making 2300 copies in April. What is the fee per copy?

1 Answer

The cost would be #$0.0625# or #6.25# cents per copy

Explanation:

Let #x# be the cost per copy and #y# be the monthly fee.

In March the cost was #$175# which equals the fee #(y)# plus the cost per copy #(x)# times the number of copies #(1500)#. The two equations would be:

#$175 = 1500x + y" "# and #" "$225 = 2300x + y#

Solve each for #y#. You would get

#y = $175 - 1500x" "# and #" " y = $225 - 2300x#

Since #y = y#, you can let the equations equal each other

#$175 - 1500x = $225 - 2300x#

Add #2300x# to each side and you get

#$175 + 800x = $225#

Subtract #$175# from bot sides gives you

#800x = $50#

Divide both sides by #800# and the cost per copy

#x = $0.0625#

Putting this back into the equation, #y = $81.25# per month.