Question

under her cell phone plan, ella pays a flat cost of $37.50 per month and $5 per gigabyte. she wants to keep her bill at $59 per month. how many gigabytes of data can she use while staying within her budget?

Explanation:

Step1: Define the cost function

Let \( x \) be the number of gigabytes. The total cost \( C \) is the flat cost plus the cost per gigabyte times the number of gigabytes. So, \( C = 37.50 + 5x \).

Step2: Set up the equation

We know she wants the total cost \( C \) to be \( 59 \). So, we set up the equation \( 37.50 + 5x = 59 \).

Step3: Solve for \( x \)

Subtract \( 37.50 \) from both sides: \( 5x = 59 - 37.50 \). Calculate the right side: \( 5x = 21.5 \). Then divide both sides by \( 5 \): \( x=\frac{21.5}{5}=4.3 \).

Answer:

\( 4.3 \)