SOLUTION: Jacob has a certain amount of fencing he wants to use to make a dog run. If he makes the length 36 feet, the width will be 9 feet, but if he makes the length 40 feet, the width wil

Question 973591: Jacob has a certain amount of fencing he wants to use to make a dog run. If he makes the length 36 feet, the width will be 9 feet, but if he makes the length 40 feet, the width will be only 5 feet. Write an equation in the form y = mx + b that can be used to find the width, y, for any given length x.
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Jacob has a certain amount of fencing he wants to use to make a dog run. If he makes the length 36 feet, the width will be 9 feet, but if he makes the length 40 feet, the width will be only 5 feet. Write an equation in the form y = mx + b that can be used to find the width, y, for any given length x.
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You have two points relating width to length::
(9,36) and (5,40)
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slope = (40-36)/(5-9) = 4/-4 = -1
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Form:: y = mx + b
Solve for "b":
40 = -1*5 + b
b = 45
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Equation:
y = -x + 45
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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