Question

Brittany has $200 to spend on landscaping for her flowerbeds. She knows she wants to buy a $65 planter and a variety of flowering plants. What is the maximum number of flowers she can buy if each one costs $15? Make sure to write in the y=mx+b form.

Answer 1

y = 15x + 65, or y = 15(9) +65

Explanation:

So first, subtract $65 from $200 because Brittany is already using $65 for a plantar. For y = mx+b, $65 would be the b, because b is the fixed number, the number that cannot be changed. At this point, you are at y = mx + 65.

Now you are left with $135. Brittany wants to buy flowers with the remaining money. What you can do is division to see how many times $15 will go in $135 because with one flower = $15, we want to see the maximum number we can spend. If you do the division, you will see that $15 goes into $135 9 times, meaning you can buy 9 flowers, because each flower is $15, maxing out the remaining money you have.

In equation form, $15 would be the m, because m is what you multiply by and x is the independent variable, or the number of flowers Brittany will buy.

y = 15x + 65, or y = 15(9) +65