Jerald is having drain issues at his home and decides to call a plumber. The plumber charges $70 to come to his house and $50 for every hour they work. If the plumber charges Jerald a total of $285, how many hours did the plumber work?
Write and solve an equation to determine the number of hours worked by the plumber.
Let x be the number of hours the plumber worked.
The total cost for the plumber's work is 70 + 50x = $285.
Subtracting 70 from both sides, we get 50x = 215.
Dividing both sides by 50, we find that the plumber worked x = 215/50 = <<215/50=4.3>>4.3 hours. Answer: \boxed{4.3}.