restaurants typically pay wait staff an hourly wage that is lower than minimum wage. the wait staff is expected to make up the difference in tips. the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour and a restaurant pays the wait staff $4 per hour
a. if a waitress works an 8-hour shift, write and solve an inequality that gives the total tips t in dollars that the waitress must earn in an 8-hour shift in order to meet or exceed the minimum wage
b. if the waitress makes $10.40 in tips during an 8-hour shift, will she meet or exceed the minimum wage? by how much?
c. if the waitress makes $9.20 in tips during an hour 8-hour shift will she meet or exceed the minimum wage? by how much?
a. To find the inequality that gives the total tips the waitress must earn in an 8-hour shift in order to meet or exceed the minimum wage, you need to consider the difference between the hourly wage paid by the restaurant and the minimum wage.
The waitress is paid $4 per hour, and the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. So, the difference the waitress needs to make up in tips per hour is: $5.15 - $4 = $1.15.
Since the waitress works an 8-hour shift, the total tips she must earn to meet or exceed the minimum wage is: 8 * $1.15 = $9.20.
Therefore, the inequality is: t ≥ $9.20, where t represents the total tips in dollars that the waitress must earn.
b. If the waitress makes $10.40 in tips during an 8-hour shift, we can compare this amount with the minimum wage.
The total tips made by the waitress are $10.40, which is greater than the minimum total tips required of $9.20.
To find how much she exceeds the minimum wage, we can subtract the minimum total tips required from the actual total tips: $10.40 - $9.20 = $1.20.
Therefore, the waitress exceeds the minimum wage by $1.20.
c. If the waitress makes $9.20 in tips during an 8-hour shift, we can compare this amount with the minimum wage.
The total tips made by the waitress are $9.20, which is equal to the minimum total tips required of $9.20.
Therefore, the waitress meets the minimum wage and does not exceed it. She is exactly meeting the minimum wage requirement.
a. Let x = total tips.
(32 + x)/8 ≥ 5.15
Use this equation to deal with b and c.