After college graduation, Mario received employment offers from two companies. The first company offered a yearly salary of $31,000 with an annual raise of $1,500 and the second company offered a starting salary of $28,500 with an annual raise of $2,000. How many years will it take for the salaries to be the same?

The first thing we must do for this case is to define a variable:

x: number of years

y: total salary

We have then:

For first company:

y = 1500x + 31000

For second company:

y = 2000x + 28500

Equaling both equations we have:

1500x + 31000 = 2000x + 28500

Clearing x:

2000x - 1500x = 31000 - 28500

500x = 2500

x = 2500/500

x = 5

Answer:

It will take for the salaries to be the same а bout:

x = 5 years