Question

The USDA reported that in 1990 each person in the united states consumed an average of 133 pounds of natural sweeteners. They also claim this amount decreased by about 0.6 pounds each year.

Question: write a linear equation that relates years since 1990 to the average consumption of natural sweeteners. Define your variables.

Answer 1

Let X be the number of years from 1990 and Y be the amount of sweeteners a person in the united states consumed.

So here 1990 is starting point here Y is 133. It means For X=0 we have Y=133 it means intercept is 133

Now there is decrease of 0.6 pounds each year it means slope is -0.6 . Slope is negative because amount of sweetener is decreasing every year.

The linear equation with X as independent variable, Y dependent variable, b0 intercept and b1 slope is

Y = b0 + b1*X

So for given information the linear equation will be

Y = 133 - 0.6X