Question

An automobile purchased for 17000 is worth 2600 after 6 years assuming that the car's value depreciated steadily from year to year what was it worth at the end of the third year

Answer 1

$17,000 - $2600 = $14,400
$14,400 ÷ 6 = $2,400 (this is the number to deduct each year)
So $17,000 - $2,400 = $14,600 first year
$14,600 - $2,400 = $12,200 second year
$12,200 - $2,400 = $9,800 third year
Your answer is $9,800

If you keep going to confirm your work the 6th year will be $2,600

Answer 2

subtracting $2,600 from $29,000 gives you the amount of value the car has lost in total divide by 6 to figure out how much value the car loses per year (26,400/6 = $4,400). Now you know that the car loses $4,400 in value each year. go back and subtract three times $4,400 from the original price of the car to find it's value after the third year (29,000 - (3x4,400) = 15,800). Thus, after three years, the value of the car will be -> $15,800.