A rental car company charges $50 per day to rent a car and $0.15 for every mile driven. Mei Mei wants to rent a car, knowing that:
She plans to drive 100 miles.
She has at most $130 to spend.

Write and solve an inequality which can be used to determine xx, the number of days Mei Mei can afford to rent while staying within her budget.
Answer
Attempt 1 out of 2

We need to write and solve an inequality to determine the number of days, $ x $, that Mei Mei can afford to rent the car.

### Step 1: Determine the total cost
The total cost for renting the car includes two components:
1. **Daily rental cost**: The car rental costs $50 per day. So, for $ x $ days, the cost is $ 50x $.
2. **Mileage cost**: Mei Mei plans to drive 100 miles, and the company charges $0.15 per mile. So, the cost for driving 100 miles is:
   \[
   100 \times 0.15 = 15 \, \text{dollars}.
   \]

Thus, the total cost is:
\[
\text{Total cost} = 50x + 15
\]

### Step 2: Set up the inequality
Mei Mei has at most $130 to spend, so the total cost must be less than or equal to $130. Therefore, the inequality is:
\[
50x + 15 \leq 130
\]

### Step 3: Solve the inequality
Now, solve for $ x $.

1. Subtract 15 from both sides:
   \[
   50x \leq 130 - 15
   \]
   \[
   50x \leq 115
   \]

2. Divide both sides by 50:
   \[
   x \leq \frac{115}{50}
   \]
   \[
   x \leq 2.3
   \]

### Step 4: Interpret the solution
Since $ x $ represents the number of days, Mei Mei can rent the car for at most 2 full days. She cannot rent the car for part of a day, so the maximum number of full days is 2.

### Conclusion:
Mei Mei can afford to rent the car for a maximum of **2 days** while staying within her budget of $130.

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Would you like more details on any part of the solution? 

Here are 5 related questions to consider:
1. What if the company charged $0.20 per mile instead of $0.15?
2. What would happen if Mei Mei wanted to drive 150 miles?
3. How would the inequality change if Mei Mei had $150 to spend?
4. What if the daily rental cost was $40 instead of $50?
5. Can we use a similar method if the mileage cost was variable?

**Tip**: Always double-check if your final answer makes sense in the context of the problem (e.g., using whole numbers for days).

A rental car company charges $50 per day to rent a car and $0.15 for every mile driven. Mei Mei wants to rent a car, knowing that: She plans to drive 100 miles. She has at most $130 to spend. Write and solve an inequality which can be used to determine x, the number of days Mei Mei can afford to rent while staying within her budget.

Learn how to solve an inequality involving a car rental scenario where Mei Mei wants to rent a car for $50 per day and drive 100 miles with a $130 budget. This problem covers key algebraic concepts and linear inequality solving steps. Suitable for students in Grades 6-8.

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