Question

A coal car on a train weighs 30 tons plus 1 ton per cubic yard of coal x that it carries. The total weight of a coal car is: f(x) = x + 30. How will the graph of this function change if the coal car weight is changed to 26 tons?

Answer 1

The new graph will be lower than the original.

Explanation:

Currently, looking at the equation of the total weight, we have f(x) = x + 30.

This equation is in the form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept (the place where the line crosses the y-axis). Here, 30 is the y-intercept. See first attachment.

However, if we change 30 to 26, we get the new equation g(x) = x + 26. Since 26 < 30, the y-intercept will be lower and the whole graph will be lower. See second attachment.

Thus, the new graph will be lower than the original.

~ an aesthetics lover