Question meganr
Megan’s regular wage at her job is p dollars per hour for the first 8 hours of work in a day plus 1.5 times her regular hourly wage for work in excess of 8 hours that day. On a given day, Megan worked for 10 hours, and her total earnings for that day were $137.50. What is Megan’s regular hourly wage?
$11.75
$12.50
$13.25
$13.75
Megan’s regular wage at her job is p dollars per hour for the first 8 hours
Hard-difficulty · SAT Math · Linear Equations in One Variable — Word problems → single variable. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice B is correct. Since p represents Megan’s regular pay per hour, 1.5p represents the pay per hour in excess of 8 hours. Since Megan worked for 10 hours, she must have been paid p dollars per hour for 8 of the hours plus 1.5p dollars per hour for the remaining 2 hours. Therefore, since Megan earned $137.50 for the 10 hours, the situation can be represented by the equation 137.5 = 8p + 2(1.5)p. Distributing the 2 in the equation gives 137.5 = 8p + 3p, and combining like terms gives 137.5 = 11p. Dividing both sides by 11 gives p = 12.5. Therefore, Megan’s regular wage is $12.50.
Choices A and C are incorrect and may be the result of calculation errors. Choice D is incorrect and may result from finding the average hourly wage that Megan earned for the 10 hours of work.
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