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Suppose a car depreciates linearly the second you drive it off the lot. If you purchased the car for $31,500 and after 5 years the car is worth $20,500, find the slope of the depreciation line.

1 Answer

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Answer: m = - 2200

Explanation: Slope of a line is a number which describes the steepness and direction of a linear graph. It is represented by the letter m.

The year a car is bought and its price means:

f(0) = 31,500

Five years later, the price is $20,500, i.e.:

f(5) = 20,500

With these two pairs of value, slope is calculated as:


m = (y-y_(0))/(x-x_(0))


m = (20500-31500)/(5-0)


m = (- 1100)/(5)

m = - 2200

The slope of the depreciation line is m = -2200 and it is negative because the line decreases along time.

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