Question

PLSSS HELP ME DUE TODAY!!!

Meg is heading back to her car after a hike to Misty Falls. The waterfall is at an elevation of 4,000 feet, and the trail descends an average of 500 feet for every 1 mile she hikes. You can use a function to approximate Meg's elevation after she hikes x miles.
Write an equation for the function. If it is linear, write it in the form h(x)=mx+b. If it is exponential, write it in the form h(x)=a(b)x.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Since every single mile it descends the same amount (which is 500ft), that means it's linear, so we'll use that they gave us, the h(x) = mx+b

To find m, we use the following equation

`(y2 - y1)/(x2 - x1)`

to find b, we have to find out the starting point. luckily they gave it to us, which is 4,000ft. B = 4000

Now every 500 feet, we go down 1 mile

Which means at 1000 feet, we go down 2 miles

500 and 1000 can be our y1 and y2

1 and 2 can be our x1 and x2

`(1000 - 500)/(2 - 1) = (500)/(1) = 500 = m`

Now that we have our m and b, we just put it together

`h(x) = - 500x + 4000`

A negative was placed before the 500 because they are descending, not ascending.