Verizon offers a text messaging plan for $9.99, but you are charged 10 cents if you go over your allotted messages. AT&T is offering the same messaging plan for $7.99, but it costs 15 cents for every message over your limit. Write and solve an equation that would calculate the number of overall messages, m, it would take for both companies to cost the same amount.

Answer: it would take 40 text messages before you pay the same amount for both offers.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the number of messages that you send with either Verizon or AT&T

Let y represent the total amount paid for x messages using Verizon

Let z represent the total amount paid for x messages using AT&T

Verizon offers a text messaging plan for $9.99 (999 cents), but you are charged 10 cents if you go over your allotted messages. This means that the total amount for x hours would be

y = 10x + 999

AT&T is offering the same messaging plan for $7.99 (799 cents), but it costs 15 cents for every message over your limit. This means that the total amount for x hours would be

z = 15x + 799

To determine the number of messages before the amount for both offers becomes the same, we would equate y to z. It becomes

10x + 999 = 15x + 799

15x - 10x = 999 - 799

5x = 200

x = 40