Suppose a car rental company charges $88 for the first day and $38 for each additional or partial day. Let S(x) represent the cost of renting a car for x days. Use a piecewise function to model the situation, and find the value of S(4.5). a) $171 b) $231 c) $240 d) $221

Answer:C. $240 for 4.5 days.Step-by-step explanation:Let's find the answer using the following data:Notice that the first day is $88 which can be written as:first day= $38 + $50, in this way the first day cost the same as the other additional days but it include an additional $50 charge.In this way we can have the formula:S(x)=38x+50Notice in the above formula that the '50' represents the extra money for the first day, while '38' the normal cost per day.Now, S(4.5) needs to be evaluated as S(5) given the condition that a partial day also costs $38, so:S(4.5)=S(5)=(38*5)+50=240In conclusion, for 4.5 days the cost is $240, so de answer is C.