Question

What does the Y intercept mean in the situation?

Answer 1

Hello!

The equation in the image above has been written in slope-intercept form. Slope-intercept form uses the following formula:

y = mx + b

M represents the slope while B represents the y-intercept. In the problem above, we are given that X represents the number of identical deposits while Y represents the amount of money in Mario’s account. We can also conclude, based on the formula above, that the y-intercept of the given equation is 50.

Let’s begin at a time when Mario had not yet made any of his monthly deposits (x). In this case, we would let X equal 0:

y = 75x + 50
y = 75(0) + 50

Now simplify the right side of the equation:

y = 0 + 50
y = 50

Before Mario made any deposits (x = 0), his bank account held only 50 dollars. Therefore, Mario must have gotten these 50 dollars for his birthday (before the monthly deposits began). We have now come to the conclusion that the y-intercept represents the following:

He was given $50 for his birthday.

I hope this helps!