Suppose a car rental company charges $88 for the first day and $38 for each additional or partial day. Let S (x) represent the cost of renting a car for x days. Use a piecewise function to model the situation, and find the value of S (4.5). a) $171 b) $231 c) $240 d) $221

C. $240 for 4.5 days.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's find the answer using the following dа ta:

Notice that the first day is $88 which can be written as:

first day = $38 + $50, in this way the first day cost the same as the other additional days but it include an additional $50 charge.

In this way we can have the formula:

S (x) = 38x+50

Notice in the above formula that the '50' represents the extra money for the first day, while '38' the normal cost per day.

Now, S (4.5) needs to be evaluated as S (5) given the condition that a partial day also costs $38, so:

S (4.5) = S (5) = (38*5) + 50=240

In conclusion, for 4.5 days the cost is $240, so de answer is C.