Note - Slope, First Differences and y-intercept, Variation

Recall

Slope: The slope of a line measures the steepness and the direction of the line.

First Difference: The difference between consecutive y-values in a table where the
difference in the x-values are constant.

y-intercept: The value of the dependent variable when the independent variable is zero

Direct Variation: One variable is a multiple of the other

Partial Variation: One variable is a multiple of another plus a constant

Linear Relations and Analytic Geometry Page 1

Example 1
The new Mazda 3 Sport has gas mileage of 6 km per litre on highway. This can be
modeled by the algebraic equation

d=6n

where d represents the distance you can travel and n represents the number of litres
you use.

What are the first differences? What is the slope?

What is the initial value? What is the y-intercept?

Is this a linear relation? How can you tell?

Is this direct or partial variation? How can you tell?

Example 2
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Example 2
A taxi company charges a flat rate of $2.50 plus $0.35/km.
The cost can be found using the equation

where C represents the cost and k represents the number of kilometres.

What are the first differences? What is the slope?

What is the initial value? What is the y-intercept?

Is this a linear relation? How can you tell?

Is this direct or partial variation? How can you tell?

Example 3
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Example 3

Dooko Mobile Company does not charge any monthly fees, but charges $0.25 per
minute of cell phone use. Model this scenario.

Equation:

What are the first differences? What is the slope?

What is the initial value? What is the y-intercept?

Is this a linear relation? How can you tell?

Is this direct or partial variation? How can you tell?

Example 4

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Example 4

KeeDe Mobile Company charges $20 per month and an additional $0.25 per minute of
long distance calls. Model this scenario

Equation:

What are the first differences? What is the slope?

What is the initial value? What is the y-intercept?

Is this a linear relation? How can you tell?

Is this direct or partial variation? How can you tell?

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