Answer:
The number representing describing the value of his signing bonus = 5,000.
Explanation:
Total debt = $36,700
He pays $500 every month from his monthly salaries, since m = months.
The $5,000 is the amount of his signing bonus, which puts entirely towards paying off his debt.
It is like the fixed payment. While the 500m is the variable payment per month.
So, at the end of any number of months, you can easily calculate the remaining debt using the expression, 36,700 - (5,000 + 500m)