Question 356038
"increased at a relatively constant rate of 437.5 thousand metric tons per year"
___ this is the slope (m) of the linear equation


y = (m)x + b


y is the amount in a given year , and x is the number of years from 1990 to the given year


substitute the values for the year 2002 to find the constant term (b)


9900.5 = (437.5)(12) + b


once you have b , plug in 8000 for y and solve for x to find the years since 1990