HW Score: \( 66.67 \%, 4 \) of 6 points The airport garage charges \( \$ 5 \) to park for the first hour and then \( \$ 3.50 \) an hour for any additional hours. Ben paid \( \$ 50.50 \) to park there one day when he flew to another city. How many hours was he parked at the airport.

To find out how many hours Ben was parked at the airport, we first need to figure out how much he paid after the first hour. He paid a total of \( \$50.50 \). The first hour costs \( \$5 \). So we subtract the first hour cost from the total: \[ 50.50 - 5 = 45.50 \] This amount, \( \$45.50 \), is what he paid for the additional hours. The cost for these additional hours is \( \$3.50 \) per hour. Therefore, we can determine the number of additional hours by dividing the amount paid by the cost per hour: \[ \text{Additional hours} = \frac{45.50}{3.50} = 13 \] Now, we must add the one initial hour to find the total hours parked: \[ \text{Total hours} = 13 + 1 = 14 \] Thus, Ben was parked at the airport for a total of 14 hours.