Answer:
The two true statements concerning this situation and equation are:
The car was bought for $15,000. (This is true because the initial value or starting value, represented by "a" in the equation, is $15,000.)
The value of the car is decreasing. (This is true because the common ratio, represented by "b" in the equation, is 0.85 which is less than 1. Therefore, the value of the car decreases with each passing year or period.)
Explanation:
The given equation y = 15000 (0.85) x represents the value of a recently bought used car where y is the value of the car after x years, 15000 is the initial value or starting value of the car, and 0.85 is the common ratio.
The initial value of the car is $15,000, which means that at x=0, the value of the car is $15,000. This is because the initial value is represented by the constant value of "a" in the equation.
The common ratio of 0.85 means that the value of the car decreases by 15% each year or period. This is because the common ratio is less than 1, which indicates that the value of the car is decreasing over time. This decrease in value is represented by the exponent "x" in the equation, which represents the number of years that have passed since the car was bought.
Therefore, the value of the car is decreasing with each passing year or period. For example, after one year (x=1), the value of the car will be 0.85 times its previous value, which is $12,750. After two years (x=2), the value of the car will be 0.85 times its previous value of $12,750, which is $10,838.75, and so on.