Help with function word problem

dragonrider

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2014
Messages
18
Hi
I cannot figure out how to solve this word problem, or what some of it even means:
"The cost, in dollars, of a t-year membership package in a professional organization is given by the function C, defined by C(t) = 100(t + k), where k is a constant. If the cost of a 2-year membership package is $500, what is the cost in dollars of a 3-year membership package?"
What is k and why is it there? Does it represent a number? What is the purpose of C?What exactly am I solving for?
Thanks!
 
Hi
I cannot figure out how to solve this word problem, or what some of it even means:
"The cost, in dollars, of a t-year membership package in a professional organization is given by the function C, defined by C(t) = 100(t + k), where k is a constant. If the cost of a 2-year membership package is $500, what is the cost in dollars of a 3-year membership package?"
What is k and why is it there? Does it represent a number? What is the purpose of C?What exactly am I solving for?
Thanks!

You are given a RULE for finding the cost of a membership. C(t) is the cost for a membership of t years.

The rule is this:

C(t) = 100(t + k)

You are told that "k is a constant"....so k is a number that will not change.

You are told that the cost of a 2-year membership package is $500. Remember that "t" in this rule is the number of years. For a two-year membership, t = 2, right?

So, we can substitute 2 for each "t" in the rule:

C(t) = 100(t + k)
C(2) = 100(2 + k)
AND C(2) represents the the cost, which we are told is $500. Substitute 500 for C(2):
500 = 100(2 + k)
If you solve this for k, you will discover what "constant value" k has. And you can then replace "k" in the rule, and use the rule to find the cost for any number of years (t) you're interested in.
 
You are given a RULE for finding the cost of a membership. C(t) is the cost for a membership of t years.

The rule is this:

C(t) = 100(t + k)

You are told that "k is a constant"....so k is a number that will not change.

You are told that the cost of a 2-year membership package is $500. Remember that "t" in this rule is the number of years. For a two-year membership, t = 2, right?

So, we can substitute 2 for each "t" in the rule:

C(t) = 100(t + k)
C(2) = 100(2 + k)
AND C(2) represents the the cost, which we are told is $500. Substitute 500 for C(2):
500 = 100(2 + k)
If you solve this for k, you will discover what "constant value" k has. And you can then replace "k" in the rule, and use the rule to find the cost for any number of years (t) you're interested in.


Oh, thank you! Now it makes sense! :D
 
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