Slope Word Problem

Question

Many cities are using electric scooters to help people get around tow. The rental price for a scooter has a start-up fee of $1.00 and then $0.25 for every minutes you use the scooter. How much money does it cost you is you rent the scooter for 3 hours? How do you know? Write the linear equation that models this situation and then answer all the questions posed.

Answer 1

A linear equation takes the following form:

Y = mX + b

Y and X are Y and X, and m is the slope of the line, and b is the Y-intercept (the place where the line meets the Y axis).

For this problem, we can say that Y will be our cost-axis -- which is nice, as the cost goes up, the Y will go higher. X will be our time axis -- as we spend more time, we move further to the right. Nice!

Our initial cost will be b -- this is what our cost (Y) is where our time (X) is zero. $1.The slope is .25, this is what we multiply times X (time) to se how much we are spending.

Cost = $.25(time) + $1

For this problem:

Cost = $.25(180 minutes) + $1

Cost = $45 + $1

Cost = $46

All linear word problems are about like this one. It's just a matter of matching all the variables to the info you are given.

Answer 2

Total Cost = Flat Rate + Fixed Cost

Let x = the number of minutes you rent the scooter

C = 1.00 + 0.25x

For x=3 hours x 60 mins/hour = 180 mins

C = 1.00 + 0.25(180) = $46.00