Biologists want to set up a station to test alligators in the lake for West Nile Virus. Suppose that the costs for such a station are $2,500 for setup costs and $3.00 to administer each test.

Write an expression that gives the total cost to test x animals

cost = 2500 + 3 x

2,500 + 3x = C

To calculate the total cost to test x animals, we need to consider the setup costs and the cost per test.

The setup cost is a fixed cost and is given as $2,500.

The cost per test is $3.00.

Since we want to calculate the total cost to test x animals, we need to multiply the cost per test by the number of animals tested, which is x.

Therefore, the expression that gives the total cost to test x animals is:

Total cost = Setup cost + (Cost per test * Number of animals tested)
Total cost = $2,500 + ($3.00 * x)