Bunuel wrote:
Listed above are the rates for operator-assisted telephone calls from San Diego to New York City. On a Friday at 4:17 p.m., Mr. Talbot made a person to-person phone call from San Diego to New York City. When he received his monthly phone bill, Mr. Talbot noted that this call cost $14.09. To the nearest minute, how long did this call last?
A. 23
B. 24
C. 25
D. 26
E. 27
Attachment:
2016-01-31_1914.png
Hi,
The Q clearly asks for intensive calculations as shown in above reply..
Quote:
2.97 + 0.46x = 14.09
x = 24.391
..
I would recommend a slightly easier and lesser error prone method of calculations as it will not include div by .46 etc..
first three minutes= 4.35 and there after .46 per minute..
let me break 14.09..
bill beyond three minutes=14.09-4.35=9.74..when you look at .46, we should realize 20 times that amount is 9.2..
so he could have spoken for 20 minutes more easily..
so after 3+20=23 minutes, money left=9.74-9.2=.54...54 is clearly very close to .46, so another minute..
answer = 23+1=24 minutes..
B..
NOTE:- method is same but by breaking into minutes, it becomes much simpler, avoiding div by numbers of the shape of .46, This is my first tag to you. So Hello and I hope you're doing good
I did solve this question in the exact same approach. But I did not round down the value and instead I round up. Since He was charged more than .46$ I assumed we need to count the extra cents for the next minute. So I marked C as the answer.
I guess it makes sense to consider it as 24minutes because the amount does not cross the next .46$ but I guess I just missed it