12. A Video Game service has a membership plan in which a person pays a membership fee of \( \$ 20 \) plus \( \$ 2.50 \) for each game rented. Non-members pay \( \$ 5.00 \) for each game rented. How many games would a person need to rent to make the membership plan a better deal?

To determine when the membership plan becomes a better deal compared to paying as a non-member, we can set up the following equations based on the costs: 1. **Membership Plan Cost:** \[ \text{Total Cost} = \$20 + \$2.50 \times \text{Number of Games (x)} \] 2. **Non-Member Cost:** \[ \text{Total Cost} = \$5.00 \times \text{Number of Games (x)} \] We want to find the smallest integer value of \( x \) for which the membership cost is **less than** the non-member cost: \[ 20 + 2.50x < 5x \] **Solving the inequality:** \[ 20 < 5x - 2.50x \] \[ 20 < 2.50x \] \[ x > \frac{20}{2.50} \] \[ x > 8 \] Since \( x \) must be a whole number (you can't rent a fraction of a game), the smallest integer greater than 8 is **9**. **Conclusion:** A person needs to rent **9 or more games** to make the membership plan a better deal than paying per game as a non-member. Answer: **9**