In a TV trivia show, a contestant receives 500 points for a correct answer and loses 200 points for an incorrect answer. Let c represent the number of correct answers and i represent the number of incorrect answers. What is the expression for the contestant's total points?

points=500c-200i

To determine the expression for the contestant's total points, we need to consider the number of correct answers and the number of incorrect answers. We know that a correct answer earns the contestant 500 points, and an incorrect answer results in a loss of 200 points.

Let's break it down step by step:

1. Multiply the number of correct answers by the points earned per correct answer, which is 500: 500 * c.
2. Multiply the number of incorrect answers by the points lost per incorrect answer, which is -200: -200 * i.

Now, we can write the expression for the contestant's total points:

Total Points = 500c - 200i.

In this expression, we subtract the product of 200 and the number of incorrect answers because they result in a loss of points.