SOLUTION: The organizers of a walking race want the racers to finish close together so some of the racers will be given head starts. The organizers wrote the equation y=40+2x for one racers

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Question 183645: The organizers of a walking race want the racers to finish close together so some of the racers will be given head starts. The organizers wrote the equation y=40+2x for one racers and entered it into a graphing calculator. x is measured in seconds and y is measured in meters. What does 40 mean in the context of the race? What does 2 mean in the context of the race?
Answer by halbren(10) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you look at this equation as a graph where the y coordinate represents the number of meters travelled at the x number of seconds, it is easier to see the relationship. For instance, at the beginning of the race when x=0 (it hasn't started) the racer would be at 40 meters. If the racer is at 40 meters at the start, that would be the headstart. The 2x means for every second (x increases by 1) the racer moves 2 meters (y increases by 2). So if you know how many seconds the race has been going, you can calculate where the racer is (i.e. if they are 35 seconds into the race, our racer would be ).