Question

For two months, Martin used the same snow removal company to help clear his property. The company had a fixedreservation rate per month plus an hourly rate for the amount of time that is spent clearing snow. Martin receivedtwo bills from the snow removal company. The first bill was $170 for 3 hours of snow removal and the second billwas $220 for 5 hours of snow removal. Find the equation of the line that represents the snow removal company'sfixed reservation rate and charge per hour. Round to the nearest cent if necessary.

Answer 1

The form of the equation of the line is

`y=mx+b`

where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept

In this case we will use

$170 for 3 hours as a point (3,170)

$220 for 5 hours as a pint (5,220)

First, we will use the next formula to find the slope of the line

`m=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)`

In this case

(3,170)=(x1,y1)

(5,220)=(x2,y2)

we substitute

`m=(220-170)/(5-3)=(50)/(2)=25`

Then we calculate the the y-intercept using one point

`170=25(3)+b`
`b=170-75=95`

The equation is

`y=25x+95`