A youth group is planning a trip to a local amusement park. They are taking a van which holds 10 people. It will cost $25 for parking and tickets to enter the park are $18 per person.

Question

can someone tell me what the answers 1. Identify the independent and dependent variables for this situation. (5 points)

2. Create a table to represent the situation, showing the possible total costs for the various numbers of people who could go. (10 points)

3. Create a graph for this situation. You can create your graph using a paint program or draw by hand and take a picture only, no spreadsheets or online graphing tools allowed. If you need a graphing grid to print out or copy into a paint program, here is a link to a graphing grid.

Answer 1

Hello, Sera,

The independent variable is the one that creates or causes the effect. The dependent varaiable is the value that changes depending on the independent variables. The number of students is the "cause" of the total cost of the park trip. The total cost is the dependent variable - it "depends" on the number of students.

One can form an equation for the total cost of the park trip. Let y be the total cost and x the number of students. We know that the parking is $25, regardless of the number traveling (I'll conveniently assume the driver will remain in the van, and will park even if there are no students). So we can set the total coast of the trip, y, as:

y = 18x + 25

The total cost is the sum of the number of students times the cost per student to enter the park, plus a fixed cost of $25 for parking. This equation is valid for x from 0 up to 10 students, the maximum capacity of the van.

So a table would use this equation to calculate the cost for the number of students, X:

X (students) Y($)

0 25

1 43

2 54

3 72

4 90

5 108

etc.

The graph will be a straight line from x equal from 0 to 10, starting at y=25 for x = 0. Just graph the line y=18x + 25 on the interval x=0 to 10.

Bob