Hi! I'm assuming that this is the same question which had "s" as a variable for shirts folded and "h" for hour.
You may have already had to turn in your answer for this question, but hopefully this explanation helps you in the future.
I would use this formula as my base: y=mx+b
The easiest way to solve this problem is by graphing it. (For instance, if 2 hours on the X axis, find how many shirts on the Y axis. If 3 hours on the X axis... etc.) Then put the Y-intercept in for b, the slope in for m, and turn it in. I'm going to show you the more complicated way, in case you don't have the chance to graph it.
Y is the variable you want to know. You can actually write two different equations for this problem, so I'll show you both. They start as follows:
- s=... (to find the total number of shirts folded, when you know how much time you have)
- h=... (to find the amount of time needed, when you know how many shirts you have to fold)
s=...
This one is a little easier, so let's do it first.
Remember, we're using "y=mx+b", but x and y are going to be your variables. Here, s (number of shirts) will get plugged in for y, which means that h (number of hours) will get plugged in for x. Currently, your solution says this: s=mh+b
To find b, you have to know how many shirts are folded in 0 hours. According to the original problem, it looks like you don't start with any shirts folded, so you can completely leave out "+b". Now you just need to know m, which is how many shirts are folded in 1 hour. Your answer will look like s=__h, with the number in that blank. (The number is the only one in the problem, so I'm counting on you to find it, haha.)
h=...
This one is slightly trickier, but I want you to see it explained in case it ever comes up on a test, so here goes. What if someone needs 182 shirts folded, but you want to know how long that will take? The first equation expects that you will be given an amount of time, so let's solve it the other way.
Remember, we're still using "y=mx+b", and x and y are still going to be your variables. Here, though, h (number of hours) will get plugged in for y, which means that s (number of shirts) will get plugged in for x. Currently, your solution says this: h=ms+b
To find b, you have to know how many hours it takes to fold 0 shirts. Logically, that shouldn't be too tricky. Since it doesn't take any time to fold 0 shirts, once again, you can completely leave out "+b". Now you just need to know m, which is how many hours it takes to fold 1 shirt.
"But wait," you might say. "I don't know how long it takes to fold one shirt!"
The problem actually gives you the answer to this, in a really weird way. Rather than just writing the number you're given for m, you'll write 1/#. This fraction shows how long it takes to fold one shirt. Because you're multiplying by h, you can either write h=1/__ s (where 1/__ is a fraction), or you can write h=s/__. The two different ways of writing it mean exactly the same thing. (Again, the number is the only one in the problem, so I'm counting on you to find it, haha.)
Feel free to keep this explanation around in case it helps you later on. I hope that makes sense!
