Malik’s weekly pay varies directly to the number of hours he works as a lifeguard. His weekly pay is $246.50 when he works 17 hours. What is his weekly salary when he works 23 hours? Note: write a direct variation equation representing this situation, where p represents weekly pay and h represents hours worked, then use this equation to answer the question. Show all your work.

We are given that Malik's weekly pay varies directly to the number of hours he works as a lifeguard. The weekly pay is $246.50 when he works 17 hours. Let p represent his weekly pay and h represent the number of hours he works.

We can write a direct variation equation as p = kh, where k is the constant of variation.

Using the given information, we can substitute p = 246.50 and h = 17 into the equation to solve for k:

246.50 = k(17)

Divide both sides of the equation by 17 to solve for k:

246.50/17 = k

k = 14.50

Now that we have the value of k, we can use it to find Malik's weekly pay when he works 23 hours:

p = kh

p = (14.50)(23)

p = $333.50

Therefore, Malik's weekly salary when he works 23 hours is $333.50.