Question

Carson needs to lease out a music studio to record his new album. The studio charges an initial studio-use fee plus an hourly fee for each hour in the studio. The total amount of money Carson would have to pay to use the studio for tt hours can be determined using the equation P=50t+100.P=50t+100. What is the yy-intercept of the equation and what is its interpretation in the context of the problem?

Answer 1

The y-intercept of the equation is 100 and represents the initial studio-use fee.

Explanation:

In this equation, our t variable (time) is the equivalent of the x-variable on a graph. This is because it is the variable that we 'change' to see its impact on y. We see how the amount of hours affects the price. So our P variable (price) is the equivalent of y on a graph. The y-intercept is where the line crosses the y-axis on a graph. At this point, x=0.

Since P is our y, and t is our x, to find the y-intercept, we simply need to make t = 0.

P = 50(0) + 100

P = 100

Therefore the y-intercept is 100.

In this context, t represents time, so even though the studio has been used for 0 hours, the price is still 100. This is because the 100 represents the initial studio-use fee, and using it for certain amounts of time adds onto the initial fee of $100. The hourly fee is represented by 50t so it costs $50 more for each hour of use.

Hope this helped!