Y = mx + b Word Problems

1. Suppose that the water level of a river is 34 feet and that it is receding at a
rate of 0.5 foot per day. Write an equation for the water level, L, after d days. In
how many days will the water level be 26 feet?

2. Seth’s father is thinking of buying his son a six-month movie pass for $40.
With the pass, matinees cost $1.00. If matinees are normally $3.50 each, how
many times must Seth attend in order for it to benefit his father to buy the pass?

3. For babysitting, Nicole charges a flat fee of $3, plus $5 per hour. Write an
equation for the cost, C, after h hours of babysitting. What do you think the slope
and the y-intercept represent? How much money will she make if she baby-sits 5
hours?

6. A plumber charges $25 for a service call plus $50 per hour of service. Write an
equation in slope-intercept form for the cost, C, after h hours of service. What will
be the total cost for 8 hours of work? 10 hours of work?

7. Rufus collected 100 pounds of aluminum cans to recycle. He plans to collect

an additional 25 pounds each week. Write and graph the equation for the total
pounds, P, of aluminum cans after w weeks. What does the slope and y-intercept
represent? How long will it take Rufus to collect 400 pounds of cans?

8. A canoe rental service charges a $20 transportation fee and $30 dollars an
hour to rent a canoe. Write and graph an equation representing the cost, y, of
renting a canoe for x hours. What is the cost of renting the canoe for 6 hours?

9. A caterer charges $120 to cater a party for 15 people and $200 for 25 people.
Assume that the cost, y, is a linear function of the number of x people. Write an
equation in slope-intercept form for this function. What does the slope
represent? How much would a party for 40 people cost?
10. An attorney charges a fixed fee on $250 for an initial meeting and $150 per
hour for all hours worked after that. Write an equation in slope-intercept form.
Find the charge for 26 hours of work.

11. A water tank already contains 55 gallons of water when Baxter begins to fill
it. Water flows into the tank at a rate of 8 gallons per minute. Write a linear
equation to model this situation. Find the volume of water in the tank 25 minutes
after Baxter begins filling the tank.

12. A video rental store charges a $20 membership fee and $2.50 for each video
rented. Write and graph a linear equation (y=mx+b) to model this situation. If
15 videos are rented, what is the revenue? If a new member paid the store
$67.50 in the last 3 months, how many videos were rented?

13. Casey has a small business making dessert baskets. She estimates that her
fixed weekly costs for rent and electricity are $200. The ingredients for one
dessert basket cost $2.50. If Casey made 40 baskets this past week, what were
her total weekly costs? Her total costs for the week before were $562.50. How
many dessert baskets did she make the week before?

14. Graph y = x, y = 2x, and y = 3x on the same coordinate plane. How are the
graphs alike? How are they different? Compare the slopes.
15. Tim buys a new computer for his office for $1200. For tax purposes, he
declares a linear depreciation (loss of value) of $200 per year. Let y be the
declared value of the computer after x years. What is the slope of the line that
models this depreciation?
Find the y-intercept of the line. Write a linear equation in slope-intercept form to
model the value of the computer over time.
Find the vale of the computer after 4.5 years.

16. The slope of a roof is called the pitch and is defined as follows:
pitch = rise of roof
½ span of roof
Find the pitch of a roof if the rise is 12 feet and the span is 30 feet.
Find the pitch of a roof if the rise is 4 feet and the span is 24 feet.
Problem: A bus company took a tour bus on the ferry when there were 30 people aboard. The ferry
charged the bus company $180. The following week, the bus had 50 people on board and the ferry
charged them $220. How much is the "base rate" for the empty bus? How much does each person
cost? Show this using y = mx + b form.

I rent a gym for $150.00 for 30 students. Another time I rent the gym for @270.00 for 70 students. I need to also find a
fixed rate.

Jim has to choose between two gym membership plans.

Plan A: $50 monthly membership fee and $10 per visit.
Plan B: costs $25 monthly one time membership fee and $15 per visit

A Pizza resturant offers the following deasl”

Deal #1: $8.99 for on large pizza and $5 for each additional large pizza on the same order
Deal#2: $6.00 per large pizza

At what number of pizzas does Deal #1 become a better deal?

What is the cost of 10 pizzas for each deal?
What is the cost per pizza in Deal #1?
Which is the better deal and why?
17. At a gas station the price of gas is $2.40 a gallon. Draw a graph to represent
the relationship between the cost of gas and the volume purchase. Also write an
equation using Y= MX + B form.
18.A doctor measured a patient”s resting pulse rate at 80 beats per minute. Draw a graph to show the
relationship between time and the number of times the patient’s heart beats.
Use it to estimate how many times the patient’s heart will beat in 18 minutes. Write an equation in Y =
mx + b form.

19. Madre works as waitress. Today she worked an 8 hour shift, and was paid $ 92.00. Plot a graph of
the amount Madre earns against the time she works for. Then find how much Madre is paid per hour.
Write an equation using Y = MX + B Form.

20. A machine can make 5 miles of silk in an hour. Graph the length of the ribbon the machine will
make in eight hours. Another machine can make 8 miles of ribbon in an hour. Graph the length of the
ribbon the machine will make in 8 hours. What is the difference in length for a 8 hour period between
the two machines? Write an Equation in slope intercept for each machine.