A bike shop rents mountain bikes for a $4.004.00 insurance charge plus $2.502.50 for each hour. For how many hours can a person rent a bike with $17.75?

Answer: the person can rent the bike for 5.5 hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the number of hours that a person rents the bike.

Let y represent the total cost of renting the bike for x hours.

A bike shop rents mountain bikes for a $4.00 insurance charge plus $2.50 for each hour. This means that the expression for the total cost of renting the bike for x hours would be

y = 2.5x + 4

Therefore, if a person has $17.75, the number of hours for which he can rent the bike would be

17.75 = 2.5x + 4

2.5x + 4 = 17.75

2.5x = 17.75 - 4

2.5x = 13.75

x = 13.75/2.5

x = 5.5 hours