the base rate for a phone bill....

[eddy2017]

I need your help with this problem. it seems easy, but I'm stuck.

The base rate for a phone bill for a married couple is 82,00 dollars per month. Each member paid 1/2 of the bill plus their data usage. The total bill for the month was 125,00 dollars.
How much does each person have to pay if 60% of the data was used up by the man.

This is my try:

Let A be the woman,
Let B be the man.
The basic rate that the couple pays per month is 82.00, so if A and B both pay half of the bill, each one pays 41 dollars + their data usage.
So
if the total bill for the month was $125 I minus what they pay every month which is 82.
125-82 = 43
43 dollars more were paid this month

could you help continue ?????.
Thanks a lot in advance for any help!!

 

[Dr.Peterson]

You've made a good start. The total data usage cost $43. If the man used 60% of the data, he should pay 60% of that. How much is it? Then, what is the total amount he will pay?

 

[eddy2017]

Hi, Dr.Peterson. Oh, I think you showed me the missing link here. Let me see.
So, the man uses up 60% of the total data usage cost which is 43 dollars.
so 60%/100%= 0.6
= 43(total cost of Data usage)*0.6
=25.8
so he paid 25.8 for data usage + 41 (half of the cost of the bill)
=66.8
The man paid 66.8 in total

To find what the lady paid,
I sub 66.8 (paid by the man) from the total bill of 125 dollars.
= 58.2 (the lady paid 58.2)
To check if my answer was right
I sum up both amounts and I should get 125 dollars
66.8 + 58.2
=125 dollars
What do you think?.
And, thank you som much for your prompt help!!!!.
Eddy.

 

[Dr.Peterson]

Looks good to me. Of course, we'd usually say he paid $66.80 and she paid $58.20.

Your checking is good habit. A better check would be to have calculated them separately first. She pays 40% of the $43 = .40*43 = $17.20, and that plus $41 is $58.20. When you add these and get the right total, you know you did it right, because the addition doesn't just undo the subtraction you just did!

 

[eddy2017]

Dr.Peterson, thanks so much!. Yes, you are right. Checking using the percent analysis is more in tune with the logic used to solve it.