Final answer:
The linear equation representing Helen's bike race situation is y = 18x + 10. The slope, which is 18, indicates her speed in mph, and after 3 hours, she would have biked 64 miles in total.
Step-by-step explanation:
The linear equation to represent Helen's situation in the bike race, where she's already biked 10 miles and is now biking at a rate of 18 miles per hour, is given by y = 18x + 10. Here, 'y' represents the total distance biked in miles, and 'x' is the number of hours she has been biking at the new speed. The slope of this equation is 18, which represents Helen's biking speed in miles per hour.
To find out how far Helen will have biked after 3 hours, we simply substitute 'x' with 3 into the equation:
y = 18(3) + 10 = 54 + 10 = 64 miles.
Therefore, after 3 hours of biking at 18 miles per hour, Helen will have biked a total of 64 miles.