Final answer:
To express the time required to complete a painting job in a linear equation, use the equation y = 1x + 4, where y is the total time in hours, x is the number of thousands of square feet to be painted, slope is 1 hour per 1,000 square feet, and the y-intercept is 4 hours for setup time.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks how to express the total time required to complete a painting job as a linear equation. To define the linear equation for the given situation, we start with the setup time. The setup time is a constant 4 hours, so this is our starting point or the y-intercept in our equation. From the problem, we know that the painting job takes an additional 1 hour for every 1,000 square feet painted. If we let x represent the number of thousands of square feet to be painted, then y, the total time in hours, is given by the linear equation:
y = 1x + 4
Here, the slope (m) is 1 hour per 1,000 square feet, representing the additional hour needed per 1,000 square feet, while the y-intercept (b) is 4 hours, representing the setup time. This equation will give the total number of hours needed to complete a painting job based on the size of the area in 1,000 square feet increments.