Question

Pedro an Paula clean boats. Pedro charges a fee of $8 plus $0.75 per square foot more than Paula. Paula’s fee is $5 with a charge of $1.50 per square foot. For how many square feet cleaned do they charge the same amount? (Show work)

Answer 1

Paula's per-foot charge is $1.50.  Pedro's is $1.50+$0.75, or $2.25/ft^2.

When will Pedro's overall charge equal Paula's?

$8 + ($2.25/ft^2)x = $5 + ($1.50/ft^2)x

Simplifying this equation, we get:

$3 + ($0.75/ft^2)x = 0.  Unfortunately, this comes out to a negative x value, that is, a negative number of hours of service.  No solution.