Question

The dollar amount Julia earns varies directly as the number of hours that she works. When she works 15 hours, she earns $116.25. How many hours does she need to work to earn $178.25?

Answer 1

To solve this problem it is necessary to state a proportion that describes the situation. In this case, 15 is to 116.25 as x (number of hours to earn 178.25) is to 178.25:

$\begin{gathered} \frac{15}{116.25}=\frac{x}{178.25} \\ 178.25\cdot\frac{15}{116.25}=x \\ x=23 \end{gathered}$

She needs to work 23 hours to earn 178.25.