Question

Your parents have decided to buy a new Toyota 4Runner for 25,635. According to the dealer, the car will depreciate in value approximately $3,000 per year. Write and solve a linear equation to find how many years it will be until the car is worth $3,135

Answer 1

7.5 years...........

Answer 2

Let the value of the car be represented by V and the amount of years by y.
This gives us the following formula:
V = 25,635 - 3000y
(This is because we start with a value of $25,635 and the value decreases by $3,000 every year 'y')

Now, we want to know when the car is worth $3,135, so we know V = 3,135
Now we can make up our equation:
25,365 - 3,000y = 3,135

Collecting terms gives us:
-3,000y = -22,500

Finally we divide by -3,000 to find 'y'
y = -22,500 / -3,000 = 7.5

Hence, the car will be worth $3,135 after 7.5 years.