56Costly text message inequality
Phone plan A costs 30 dollars per month plus 0.10 dollars per text message. Plan B costs a flat 45 dollars per month. What is the greatest number of text messages in a month for which plan A costs less than plan B? A) 149 B) 150 C) 151 D) 450
The answer is 149, choice A. Setting 30 + 0.10x < 45 gives x < 150, and since x must be a whole number of texts strictly less than 150, the greatest value is 149. Check: 30 + 0.10(149) = $44.90, which is less than $45.