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23 votes
23 votes
Can someone tell me if im right? PLEASE DONT JUST SAY YES if you don’t know

Can someone tell me if im right? PLEASE DONT JUST SAY YES if you don’t know-example-1
User BaronGrivet
by
2.2k points

1 Answer

29 votes
29 votes

Answer: You are incorrect, the slope is correct, but the actual y-intercept is 205 ft.

Then the equation is:

y = (-15 ft/min)*x + 205 ft

Explanation:

Ok, let's solve this.

We know that water is drained from a reservoir, let's assume that we can model this situation with a linear relation:

y = a*x + b

Where x is time, y is the height of the water in the reservoir, a is the slope (in this case represents how much changes the height of the water in the reservoir in one unit of time) and b is the initial height of the water in the reservoir.

We know that for a line that passes through the points (x₁, y₁) and (x₂, y₂) the slope is:

a = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁)

For this particular case we know that after 2 minutes the height of the water is 175 ft, then we have the point (2 min, 175 ft)

and after 5 minutes (so 7 minutes in total), the height of the water is 100ft, then: (7 ft, 100ft)

Then the slope of this:

a = (100 ft - 175 ft)/(7 min - 2 min) = (-75ft/5min) = - 15 ft/min

Then our line is something like:

y = (-15ft/min)*x + b

To find the value of b, we can use the fact that when x = 2 min, y = 175 ft

So if we replace these two values in the equation we get:

175ft = (-15 ft/min)*2 min + b

175 ft = -30 ft + b

175 ft + 30 ft = b

(here is your problem, it seems like you subtracted instead of adding in this part)

205 ft = b

Then the equation is:

y = (-15 ft/min)*x + 205 ft

So you are incorrect (but only for a little bit), you computed wrong the y-intercept.

User Shahnaz
by
2.9k points