Q:  At Midtown Bowling center, the cost to bowl four games is $8.40, and the cost to rent shoes is $1.15.  Write an equation for the cost C for renting shoes and bowling n games.

A:  First we need to know the cost of bowling 1 game, before we can talk about the cost of n games.  So, if 4 games cost $8.40, we can do:

$8.40 / 4 = cost of 1 game

$2.10 = cost of 1 game

OK.  Now we need to set up the equation for the cost of “n games”.  We pay $2.10 per game plus $1.15 for the shoes… So, our cost equation is:

C = 2.10*n + 1.15

Sound good?