Ms. Baldwin likes to eat cookies. She eats 3 cookies per day. After 5 days, there are 24 cookies left in the box. Write an equation represents the story in y=mx+b form
To write the equation in y=mx+b form, we need to determine which variables represent the dependent variable (y), independent variable (x), and the slope (m) and y-intercept (b) of the equation.
Let's assign the number of cookies left in the box as the dependent variable (y) and the number of days as the independent variable (x).
We are given that after 5 days, there are 24 cookies left in the box. Using this information, we can determine the slope (m) of the equation.
The slope represents the rate of change, which in this case is the number of cookies Ms. Baldwin eats per day. We are told that she eats 3 cookies per day, so the slope (m) is -3.
Now we need to find the y-intercept (b), which represents the starting value on the y-axis when x=0. In this case, it represents the initial number of cookies in the box.
Given that after 5 days, there are 24 cookies left, we can determine the initial number of cookies using the slope (m) and the equation y = mx + b.
24 = -3(5) + b
Solving for b, we have:
24 = -15 + b
b = 39
Now we have all the necessary variables to write the equation in y=mx+b form:
y = -3x + 39