A rental car company charges a base fee of [tex]$\$[/tex] 40[tex]$ plus $[/tex]\[tex]$ 0.25$[/tex] per mile for the first 100 miles. The company charges the same base fee plus a reduced price of [tex]$\$[/tex] 0.18[tex]$ per mile for cars driven over 100 miles. The piecewise function below represents the different amounts the company charges:

\[ y=\left\{
\begin{array}{l}
40 + 0.25m, \quad m \leq 100 \\
40 + 0.18m, \quad m \ \textgreater \ 100
\end{array}
\right.
\]

If someone drives their rental car 150 miles, how much will they owe the rental company?

A. $[/tex]\[tex]$ 37.50$[/tex]
B. [tex]$\$[/tex] 77.50[tex]$
C. $[/tex]\[tex]$ 67.00$[/tex]
D. [tex]$\$[/tex] 27.00$



Answer :

To determine the total cost for driving 150 miles with the given pricing structure, we're going to follow a step-by-step breakdown of how the charges are calculated.

1. Base fee and rates:
- The base fee charged by the rental car company is \[tex]$40. - For the first 100 miles, the rate is \$[/tex]0.25 per mile.
- For any miles driven over 100 miles, the rate is \[tex]$0.18 per mile. 2. Miles driven: - Total miles driven: 150 miles. 3. Calculating the charges: - First, we calculate the cost for the first 100 miles: \[ \text{Cost for the first 100 miles} = 40 + 0.25 \times 100 \] - Here, 0.25 multiplied by 100 miles gives us \$[/tex]25.
- Adding the base fee, the total cost for the first 100 miles is:
[tex]\[ 40 + 25 = 65 \text{ dollars} \][/tex]

- Next, we calculate the cost for the miles over 100:
- In this case, the customer drives 150 miles, so the miles over 100 are:
[tex]\[ 150 - 100 = 50 \text{ miles} \][/tex]
- The cost for these additional 50 miles is:
[tex]\[ 0.18 \times 50 = 9 \text{ dollars} \][/tex]

- Adding the cost of the first 100 miles to the cost of the additional miles:
[tex]\[ \text{Total cost} = 65 + 9 = 74 \text{ dollars} \][/tex]

Thus, if someone drives their rental car for 150 miles, they will owe the rental company \[tex]$74.00. None of the listed options (\$[/tex]37.50, \[tex]$77.50, \$[/tex]67.00, \[tex]$27.00) are correct. The correct amount is \$[/tex]74.00.