Gene is mailing a package of books to his brother. The post office charges by the weight of the package: a flat fee of $5.90 plus $0.70 per pound. Gene also wants to ensure the package, which costs $3.50. Gene has $13 to spend on shipping. a) Write an inequality describing the number of pounds Gene's package can weigh.
Solve it and graph the solution set.

p ≤ 5.143

Explanation:

Given the following :

Flat fee = $5.90

Price per pound of package = $0.70

Insurance fee = $3.50

Amount Gene has to spend on shipping = $13

Let number of pound = p

Total cost of package can be modeled thus:

Flat fee + (price per pound * number of pounds) + insurance fee

Total cost of package ≤ amount gene has to spend on shipping

5.90 + (0.70 * p) + 3.50 ≤ 13

5.90 + 3.50 + 0.7p ≤ 13

9.40 + 0.7p ≤ 13

0.7p ≤ 13 - 9.40

0.7p ≤ 3.6

p ≤ 3.6/ 0.7

p ≤ 5.143

Number of pounds Gene's package can weigh = 5.143 pounds