Question

How do you know you need to create a linear equation solve a word problem?

Answer 1

I assume that the equation you would be creating is in slope-intercept form, or `y= mx + b`.

If so, there is a simple answer. You can tell that you need to create a linear equation by the information the problem gives you. The problem should list the Y- intercept, a starting amount of something and a slope, or a rate of change.

For example, here is a problem:

Maddie and Cindy are starting their very own babysitting business. They charge parents $5 dollars right when they come in and $2 for every hour they need to babysit a child. How can they calculate how much they will charge for an evening of babysitting?

Your formula would be: `y= 2x + 5`

Your `x` value would be hour(s) and your `y` value would be total cost. After you write your equation you can simply solve it.