Each month your cell phone company charges you for your plan plus for each GB of data you use. You have budgeted for cell phone expenses for the month. Construct an inequality to make a determination about the number of GB of data you can use each month. Round your answer to one decimal place.
Answer (1)
To determine the number of gigabytes (GB) of data you can use within your budget for the month, you need to set up an inequality that describes the relationship between your total monthly budget, the fixed cost of your cell phone plan, and the variable cost for each GB of data used.
Here's how you can construct the inequality step-by-step:
Define the Variables:
Let C represent the monthly cost of your cell phone plan (this is a fixed cost).
Let D represent the cost per GB of data.
Let x represent the number of GBs of data you use.
Let B represent your total monthly budget for cell phone expenses.
Construct the Inequality:
The total monthly cost is the sum of the fixed cost C and the cost for the data used, which is D × x . You want this total cost to be less than or equal to your budget B . Formulating this, the inequality is:
C + D × x ≤ B
Solve for x :
To find the maximum number of GBs you can use without exceeding your budget, solve for x :
D × x ≤ B − C
x ≤ D B − C
Round Your Answer:
Calculate x using the specific values for B , C , and D that apply to your situation, then round x to one decimal place to find the maximum number of GBs you can use within your budget.
By organizing and solving the problem in this way, you ensure that you're making a decision based on your budget and plan's costs, allowing you to manage your data usage effectively throughout the month.
