Example

Example: Solving a Destination Wedding Budget Application with a Linear Inequality

To calculate the amount of work needed to afford a trip for an event like a destination wedding, apply the linear inequality word problem strategy. For example, Brenda needs to pay for 33 nights at a hotel at $60 per night, $350 for airfare, and $375 for food and entertainment. She has $500 in savings and earns $15 an hour babysitting. Let hh be the number of babysitting hours. Translating the requirement that expenses must be less than or equal to total available funds yields: 350+375+60(3)500+15h350 + 375 + 60(3) \leq 500 + 15h. Solving for hh, first simplify the left side to get 350+375+180500+15h350 + 375 + 180 \leq 500 + 15h, which is 905500+15h905 \leq 500 + 15h. Subtracting 500500 from both sides yields 40515h405 \leq 15h. Dividing by 1515 gives 27h27 \leq h, or h27h \geq 27. Brenda must babysit at least 2727 hours to have enough money to pay for the trip.

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Updated 2026-06-29

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Ch.2 Solving Linear Equations - Intermediate Algebra @ OpenStax

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