Question

Difficulty: MediumLinear Equations and Graphing

On a map of a town laid out on a standard coordinate grid, a straight path has an xx-intercept of 6-6 and a yy-intercept of 44. A landmark is located on this path at a point where the xx-coordinate is 99. What is the yy-coordinate of the landmark?

Answer: 10

Answer

The yy-coordinate of the landmark is 10.
The correct answer is 10. The linear path passes through the points (6,0)(-6, 0) and (0,4)(0, 4). Using the slope formula, the slope is m=400(6)=23m = \frac{4 - 0}{0 - (-6)} = \frac{2}{3}. The slope-intercept equation of the line is y=23x+4y = \frac{2}{3}x + 4. Substituting the landmark's xx-coordinate of 99 into the equation gives y=23(9)+4=10y = \frac{2}{3}(9) + 4 = 10.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the coordinates of the points representing the intercepts on the coordinate grid.
The points are (6,0)(-6, 0) and (0,4)(0, 4).
An xx-intercept of 6-6 corresponds to the coordinate point (6,0)(-6, 0), and a yy-intercept of 44 corresponds to the coordinate point (0,4)(0, 4).
2
Calculate the slope of the linear path.
The slope is 23\frac{2}{3}.
Using the slope formula m=y2y1x2x1m = \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1}, substitute the points (6,0)(-6, 0) and (0,4)(0, 4) to get m=400(6)=46=23m = \frac{4 - 0}{0 - (-6)} = \frac{4}{6} = \frac{2}{3}.
3
Write the linear equation representing the path.
The equation is y=23x+4y = \frac{2}{3}x + 4.
With a slope of m=23m = \frac{2}{3} and a yy-intercept of b=4b = 4, the equation in slope-intercept form (y=mx+by = mx + b) is y=23x+4y = \frac{2}{3}x + 4.
4
Find the yy-coordinate of the landmark by substituting its xx-coordinate.
The yy-coordinate is 10.
Substitute x=9x = 9 into the equation: y=23(9)+4=6+4=10y = \frac{2}{3}(9) + 4 = 6 + 4 = 10.

Key Concept

Linear Equations and Graphing
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