The costs of driving a car includes voth fixed costs and mileage costs.

Question

Assume that it costs $166.50 per month for insurance and car payments and $0.23 per mile for gasoline, oil, and routine maintenance.

(a) Find values for m and b so that y=mx+b models the monthly cost of driving the car x miles m=? b=? . (type a integer or decimal)

 

(b)What does the value of b represent

Answer 1

In this case "b" is the cost of car insurance (you drive the car, or do not drive, you have to pay just to have a valid license plate)
   y         =       m · x      +          b     
   c         =      0.23d     +      166.50
   ↓                         ↓     
monthly cost       distance or mileage