algebra word problem

Question

The Sugar Sweet Company is going to transport its sugar to market. It will cost $5200 to rent trucks, and it will cost an additional $200 for each ton of sugar transported. Let c represent the total cost (in dollars), and let s represent the amount of sugar (in tons) transported. Write an equation relating c to s , and then graph your equation using the axes below.

Answer 1

There are two factors that affect the cost: 1) the cost of the trucks which is $5200, and 2) the cost of the sugar which is $200 per ton transported.  If we let s = the tons of sugar transported, it will cost 200*s dollars to transport that amount.  The total cost, C, then, is:

 

C = 5200 + 200s

 

This is the equation of a straight line with slope 200 and y-intercept of 5200.  Can you graph that?  s is along the x-axis and C is along the y-axis.