Question

Suppose that the weight (in pounds) of an airplane is a linear function of the total amount of fuel (in gallons) in its tank. When graphed, the function gives a line

with a slope of 5.9. See the figure below.
With 48 gallons of fuel in its tank, the airplane has a weight of 2383.2 pounds. What is the weight of the plane with 77 gallons of fuel in its tank?
Airplane
weight
(in pounds)
2383.2
48
Amount of fuel
(in gallons)
pounds
48

Answer 1

To find the weight of the plane with 77 gallons of fuel in its tank, we can use the linear equation for the weight of the plane in terms of the amount of fuel in its tank. The equation has the form:Weight = m * Fuel + bWhere m is the slope of the line, which is 5.9, and b is the y-intercept, which is the weight of the plane when the amount of fuel is 0. We know that the weight of the plane with 48 gallons of fuel is 2383.2 pounds, so we can use this information to solve for b:2383.2 = 5.9 * 48 + b

b = 2383.2 - 5.9 * 48

b = 2383.2 - 280.8

b = 2102.4Now that we have the value of b, we can plug it back into the equation to find the weight of the plane with 77 gallons of fuel:Weight = 5.9 * 77 + 2102.4

Weight = 456.3 + 2102.4

Weight = 2558.7 poundsSo the weight of the plane with 77 gallons of fuel in its tank is 2558.7 pounds.

Explanation: