For babysitting, Elissa charges $3 per hour plus an additional $2 for transportation. One evening she was paid $17
To determine how many hours Elissa babysat for, we need to set up an equation based on the given information.
Let's assume she babysat for x hours.
Based on the provided information, Elissa charges $3 per hour plus an additional $2 for transportation. So, the total amount she charges per hour is $3 + $2 = $5.
To find the total amount Elissa earned for the evening, we can multiply the number of hours she babysat (x) by her hourly rate of $5: 5x.
According to the problem, she was paid $17, so we can set up the equation:
5x = 17
To find the value of x, we divide both sides of the equation by 5:
5x/5 = 17/5
x = 3.4
Therefore, Elissa babysat for 3.4 hours. Since we cannot have a fraction of an hour, we can assume that Elissa either babysat for 3 or 4 hours, depending on if the additional $2 transportation fee was included in the $17 or not.