A plumber charges an initial fee of $200 plus and hourly fee of $50. Mrs. Coombs paid the plumber $ 450. How many hours did the plumber work?

5

Step-by-step explanation:

Ok, so the question is asking us how many hours the plumber worked, which makes it a variable, so let's call it x, times an hourly rate of $50. We already know she paid 200 so let's make that into an equation.

450 = 50x + 200

We need to isolate x, so we have to subtract 200 from each side. The equation should know look like this:

250 = 50x

Now in order to determine x, we need to divide by 50 on both sides.

X = 5

So the plumber worked a total of 5 hours.

5 hours

Step-by-step explanation:

The total cost is the fee plus the hours * hourly cost

450 = 200+50*h where h is the hours

Subtract 200 from each side

450-200 = 200-200 + 50h

250 = 50h

Divide each side by 50

250/50 = 50h/50

5 = h

5 hours