To graph a situation that would involve a linear graph, first determine your x and y axes.
The x-axis will be the independent variable, one that does not change based on other variables. An example is time.

The y-axis, the dependent variable, depends on the independent variable.

The model equation for a linear line is y = mx + b.
"m" is the slope, and the "b" is the y-intercept (where the graph crosses the x-axis at x=0).

For example, a situtation could be that Joe starts with $10 in his account and adds $5 every day to his account.
The x-axis is time in days.
The y-axis is amount of money in his account.
The slope, or rate of change is 5.
The y-intercept, the amount of money he has at x=0 (0 days) is $10.

The equation would be y = 5x + 10
To draw this, plot the y-intercept at (0, 10), and the next point would be 5 units up and one unit to the right because the slope is 5, or 5/1 (remember slope is rise over run: "rise" up 5 and "over" to the right 1).

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3 years ago