SOLUTION: Here is my question....How would I know, in a linear story problem, that I would need to use X and Y variables or I could use only X variable? I cannot seem to grasp the relations

Algebra ->  Coordinate Systems and Linear Equations  -> Linear Equations and Systems Word Problems -> SOLUTION: Here is my question....How would I know, in a linear story problem, that I would need to use X and Y variables or I could use only X variable? I cannot seem to grasp the relations      Log On


   

Question 628464: Here is my question....How would I know, in a linear story problem, that I would need to use X and Y variables or I could use only X variable? I cannot seem to grasp the relationships in the problems that would tell me to only use X or to use X and Y. And my instructor was not able to explain it either. Thank you for your help.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you have two unknown quantities, then you would use two variables to represent them (eg: length and width). If you have one unknown quantity, then you would use one variable (eg: time)

Without the actual specific problem, there's not much more I can say about it.