Question

1. J. Cole is a successful Hip-Hop recording artist. He has a record contract that pays him $20,000 a month plus an additional $12 for each album that he sells. Last month he earned $24,800. Write an equation to express the money J. Cole earned last month. Let "x" represent the number of albums.

2. How many albums did J. Cole sell last month?

Answer 1

Monthly payment = $20,000
Payment per album = $12
Total earned last month = $24,800

Part (a): Expression for money earned last month
Let x be number of albums last month. Then,
Total earning = Fixed payment + Variable payment

That is,
24,800 = 20,000 + 12*x
24,800 = 20,000 + 12x

Part (b): Number of albums last month
This involves solving for x in the expression derived in part (a) above.
24,800 = 20,000 + 12x
24,800 - 20,000 = 12
12x = 4,800
x = 4,800/12 = 400 albums