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Alice is saving to buy a house and currently has $2,000 in her savings account. She's planning to contribute $150 to the account each month. Identify the function that describes the relationship between the number of months that pass (n) and the balance of her savings account, f(n).

a) f(n)=2,000n+150
b) f(n)=2,000−150n
c) f(n)=2,000−150(n+1)
d) f(n)=2,000+150(n−1)

User IVN
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The relationship between the number of months and Alice's savings is best described by option d, which is f(n) = 2,000 + 150(n - 1), accounting for her initial savings and monthly contributions.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer is option d which is f(n) = 2,000 + 150(n - 1). Alice starts her savings with $2,000 and plans to add $150 each month. The function that describes the relationship between the number of months (n) and her account's balance (f(n)) adds $150 for each month that passes, but since she already has $2,000 in the account to begin with, that amount doesn't need to be multiplied. When n = 1 (the first month), she will not add another $150 since she starts with $2,000, so we subtract 1 from n to adjust for this in the formula.

The function that describes the relationship between the number of months that pass (n) and the balance of Alice's savings account (f(n)) is a linear function. The initial balance in Alice's savings account is $2,000, and she contributes $150 each month. The amount contributed each month is subtracted from the initial balance. Therefore, the function is f(n) = 2,000 - 150n, where n represents the number of months that have passed.

For example, after 1 month, the balance in Alice's savings account will be 2,000 - 150(1) = $1,850. After 2 months, the balance will be 2,000 - 150(2) = $1,700, and so on.

User Chjch
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