Part A The slope is -0.05 gallons/miles
Part B The slope is the rate at which the vehicle consumes fuel in gallons per mile
Part A if the number of gallons left in the tank is the dependent variable, find the slope of a graphed line that passes through these two points.
To find the slope bewteen the two points, we use the equation for sllope between two points (x₁, y₁) and (x₂, y₂)
Slope, m = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁)
Given that the points
- (x₁, y₁) = (23 miles, 15 gallons) and
- (x₂, y₂) = (73 miles, 12.5 gallons) (since the gallons in the tank are the dependent variable
Substituting these into the equation, we have that
Slope, m = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁)
Slope, m = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁)
what would the slope represent in terms of the context?
m = (12.5 - 15) gallons/(73 - 23) miles
m = -2.5 gallons/50 miles
m = -0.05 gallons/miles
So, the slope is -0.05 gallons/miles
Part B. what would the slope represent in terms of the context?
Since the slope is -0.05 gallons/miles, this is the rate at which the vehicle consumes fuel in gallons per mile