Evaluate Linear and Exponential Functions (answers)
Word Problems:
A car is traveling along a highway at a steady rate of 60 mph for 5 hours. What type of graph is this? How many miles did the car travel at 3 hours?
The equation is a linear equation, because the information does not include any exponents. You have a number and then you are multiplying another number by it. y=mx+b is the equation that you would use. You plug in the 60 for m and then let 3 be your x value. Since you are starting from 0, there is no y-intercept. The equation is y=60(5) = 180 miles.
The population of Oxnard is 200,000 and is increasing at a rate of 3.75% each year. Approximately how much will the population be in 3 years?
This equation is a quadratic equation because the population is being increased exponentially. You would use the equation y=m*p^x. You would use 200,000 as your m and the 3.75% as your p. Since the population is increasing you would add 1 to .0375 making 1.0375 as your final p value. Your equation is them y=200,000 * (1.0375)^3. Your answer should be 335,031 people.