You want to get familiar with what the slope-intercept form equation means. even though the discussion board covers some of this... slope-intercept is y = mx + b, and in it, x and y are a point on your graph (x, y), m is the slope, and b is your y-intercept. in word problems, any constant will typically be b.
but, really, to answer this word problem, you don't have to think so hard about y = mx + b. just read the problem and bring your information together:
"the venue will cost $1500 to rent for an evening" "$25 per person"
so they only gave you two bits of information, and you just have to decide where they fit. if the venue costs $1500 for an evening, that's a fixed cost--the 1500 isn't going to go up or down depending on the number of people at the charity event. it stays. you're paying 1500 regardless, even if 2 people show up. because the discussion board states that b should represent your starting amount, you're automatically $1500 in the hole, because you have to spend that much to get the venue. you will, however, write it as a positive integer, because the question wants you to calculate the total cost, by my understanding--you're adding the cost of the people with the cost of the venue.
$25 is not a fixed amount. if it's $25 per person, then if 2 people come, it costs $50, if 3 people arrive, it costs $75. this cost is dependent upon the number of people, which you can call "x"
with that information, write any other equation you would for a word problem:
y = 25x + 1500
that's your equation, and it just so happens that this equation is in y = mx + b format. the x-value represents the number of people who show up for the charity; the y-value represents the overall cost.
and you need three solutions for this equation--which, luckily, is a quick and easy process!! choose an x-value and solve for y.
y = 25x + 1500
when x = 1... y = 25(1) + 1500 y = 25 + 1500 y = 1525 ordered pair: (1, 1525)
when x = 2... y = 25(2) + 1500 y = 50 + 1500 y = 1550 ordered pair: (2, 1550)
when x = 3... y = 25(3) + 1500 y = 75 + 1500 y = 1575 ordered pair: (3, 1575)
There are two areas to consider here: first, the area of the wall, and second, the area of the window. We answer this question by finding these two areas and subtracting the area of the window from the area of the wall.
