Question

A mountain climber records her altitude and the surrounding temperature at various points as she ascends a mountain. She then plots the points on a scatter plot and draws a line of best fit. The equation of the line is y=−3.6x+59 , where x is the altitude in thousands of feet and y is the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F). What does the slope of the equation represent in this scenario?

Answer 1

-3.6

Explanation:

The general equation of a straight line formula is represented as y = mx + c, where m is the gradient or slope of the line and c is called the intercept on the y-axis.

The equation of the line in the question above is y= −3.6x + 59 ,

Therefore comparing both equations together,

y = mx + c = y = −3.6x + 59

m = -3.6

Therefore, the slope of the equation represent in this scenario is -3.6