Final answer:
To find the starting rent of an apartment whose rent increases by $60 each year and is $1,250 in the 6th year, we use a linear relationship and reverse the calculation to find that the starting rent was $950.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question is about a linear situation where the apartment lease rent increases by a constant rate each year. To identify the rent in the 6th year which is $1,250, we can use a simple linear relationship: Rent_n = Rent_1 + (n - 1) * Increase, where Rent_n is the rent in the nth year, Rent_1 is the rent in the first year, n is the year number, and Increase is the yearly increase in rent. However, we are given the rent of the 6th year and need to find out what the starting rent was.
To solve this, we can rearrange the formula to find the rent in the first year: Rent_1 = Rent_6 - (6 - 1) * Increase. Plugging the values into the equation gives us: Rent_1 = $1,250 - (6 - 1) * $60 = $1,250 - 5 * $60 = $1,250 - $300 = $950. Therefore, the rent in the first year was $950.