Question

By how much does the dependent variable change in response to a change of 1 unit of the independent variable?

Independent 2 4 6 8
Dependent 15 25 35 45
Select one or more:
A. 1
B. 2
C. 5
D. 10

Answer 1

c) 5

Explanation:

Answer 2

Answer: C) 5

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x = independent variable, y = dependent variable

Assuming this is a linear function, each increase of x by 2 leads to y going up by 10. So 10/2 = 5 is the unit increase each time x bumps up by 1.

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An alternative is to use the slope formula to get

m = (y2 - y1)/(x2 - x1)

m = (25 - 15)/(4 - 2)

m = 10/2 <--- this expression shows up again

m = 5 <---- leading to the same answer as before

So we see that the slope formula is a more drawn out method to finding the answer.