I posted this question yesterday but did not get a response so am posting again in hopes that I will get a response today. I am asking for someone to check my answers.

The table shows the cost of renting a full-size rental car, based on the number of miles driven.
Distance Driven in miles Total Cost
0 $68.97
50 $88.47
100 $107.97
150 $127.47
200 $146.97

1)Find the slope of the line and explain what it means.

I did 88.47 - 68.97/50-0 to get $.39 is the slope which means that the cost per mile of renting the car.

(although I'm slightly doubting that because the inital cost is $68.97 for just getting the car??)

Find the y-intercept and explain what it means.

This I am stuck on because I thought the left column in a table was the x axis and the right column was the y axis so I'm not sure how to get this????

Determine the equation of the line. If I use the slope determined above, assuming it is correct, I believe the equation would be 68.97 + .39x
That's an expression, not an equation, but I'm not sure what to make it equal to??

I am trying to decide whether I can afford to rent a full-size car to drive to St. Louis, which is about 180 miles away. How much would that cost for a one-way trip? How much would it cost for a round trip of 360 miles?
If I use the above and plug in 180 for x, I get $139.17 for the entire trip. Multiply that times 2 for the 360 miles and I get $278.34.

Am I anywhere close to getting these answers correct?

Thank you for your help.

y=mx+b is the intercept.

From what you show it should be correct except the round trip. You see, you are including the rental price twice by multiplying it by two. You should actually re-use your equations with 360 miles.

68.97 + .39x
68.97+ .39(360)
$209.37

To calculate the slope of the line in the table, you correctly used the formula:

Slope = (88.47 - 68.97) / (50 - 0) = 19.5 / 50 = 0.39.

The slope represents the rate of change, which in this case is the cost per mile of renting the car. So, for every mile driven, the cost increases by $0.39.

To find the y-intercept, you need to determine the cost when the distance driven is 0 miles. Looking at the table, you can see that the cost is $68.97 when the distance is 0. Therefore, the y-intercept is $68.97.

The equation of a line in slope-intercept form is y = mx + b, where m represents the slope and b represents the y-intercept. So, based on the values you found, the equation of the line is:

Cost = 0.39x + 68.97.

Now, let's calculate the cost of renting a full-size car for a one-way trip to St. Louis, which is about 180 miles away. You can substitute x = 180 into the equation to find:

Cost = 0.39 * 180 + 68.97 = 70.20 + 68.97 = $139.17.

So, your calculation is correct. The estimated cost for a one-way trip to St. Louis is $139.17.

For a round trip of 360 miles, you should double the cost of the one-way trip. Therefore:

Cost = 2 * $139.17 = $278.34.

Hence, your answer for the cost of a round trip is also correct. It would cost $278.34 for a round trip of 360 miles.