Question

george bought a broken bicycle. he repaired it and sold it for $85. this was $20 more than twice what he paid for it. his friend, tom, uses the equation 2x + 20 = 85 to find the original cost of the bicycle. tom solves the equation and gets x = 32.5. what does this mean in the context of the situation? george paid $32.05 for the broken bicycle. george made a profit of 32.5. george sold the bike for 32.5 times more than he paid for it. george paid $32.50 for the broken bicycle.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the equation

The equation $2x + 20=85$ represents that $85$ (the selling - price) is $20$ more than twice the original cost $x$.

Step2: Interpret the solution

Tom solved for $x$ and got $x = 32.5$. Here, $x$ represents the original cost of the broken bicycle. Since $x$ is in dollars, it means George paid $32.50$ for the broken bicycle.

Answer:

George paid $32.50$ for the broken bicycle.