Two students are reading a novel. Ashley reads 10 pages per day. Carly reads 8 pages per day, but she starts early and is already on page 40.

Question

Write a system of equations to represent the situation, using d of days and p for pages

Answer 1

The word per indicates the slope (m) of a linear function, y=mx +b.Using d for x and p for y , the equation representing Ashely's reading is p = 10d. Carly begins on page  40 which represents b, the y intercept of a linear function which indicates an initial amount.  So the equation representing Carly's reading is p=8d + 40.