Question

Two friends are renting an apartment. They pay the landlord the first month's rent. The total amount they pay before moving in is $1725. What is the monthly rent?

The landlord also requires them to pay an additional half of a month's rent for a security deposit.

Answer 1

The renters have to pay 1.5 months rent before moving in (first month plus security deposit) so we can write the following equation to represent the situation:

`1.5m=1725`

where `m` is the amount of one month's rent.

Using algebra

`(1.5m)/color(red)(1.5)=1725/color(red)(1.5)`
`(cancel(1.5)m)/cancel(1.5)=1150`
`color(blue)(m=1150)`

The monthly rent is $1,150.