For these problems you have to use PEMDAS so for problem 15 you would do the parentheses first, (21-3) you get 18 and then exponents, 3^2, you get 9, no multiplication but there is division so take your answers, 18 and 9 and divide them, you get 2, so the answer to 15 is 2.
Any fraction that does not equal 1/2.
the assumption being that the first machine is the one on the left-hand-side and the second is the one on the right-hand-side.
the input goes to the 1st machine and the output of that goes to the 2nd machine.
a)
if she uses and input of 6 on the 2nd one, the result will be 6² - 6 = 30, if we feed that to the 1st one the result will be √( 30 - 5) = √25 = 5, so, simply having the machines swap places will work to get a final output of 5.
b)
clearly we can never get an output of -5 from a square root, however we can from the quadratic one, the 2nd machine/equation.
let's check something, we need a -5 on the 2nd, so

so if we use a "1" as the output on the first machine, we should be able to find out what input we need, let's do that.

so if we use an input of 6 on the first machine, we should be able to get a -5 as final output from the 2nd machine.

Answer:
y = 1/4 x - 2
Step-by-step explanation:
To write the equation of a line, find from the line the slope and y-intercept. The y-intercept is where the line crosses the y-axis which here is at point (0,-2).
The slope of the line is found by writing a ratio between the vertical distance and the horizontal distance between points.
Slope is 1/4.
Substitute m = 1/4 and b = -2 into the slope intercept form y = mx + b.
y = 1/4 x - 2