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Intermediate Algebra Name ________________________ Slopes of Graphs
- The following table and corresponding graph illustrate the U.S. public debt in trillions of dollars from 1980 through 2008.
a) Determine the slope of the line segments between 1996 and 2000 and between 2004 and 2008.
b) Compare the two slopes found in part a) and explain what this means in terms of the U.S. public debt.
- Consider the graph below, which shows the declining number of adults who read a daily newspaper. Notice that the graph is somewhat linear.The dashed line is a linear function which was drawn to approximate the actual graph.
a) Write a linear function to represent the dashed line.
b) Assuming this trend continues, use the function determined in part a) to estimate the percent of adults who will read a newspaper in 2015.
The table below gives the world demand for steel, in millions of metric tons, for the years from 2004 to
a) Plot these points on a graph.
b) Determine the slope of each line segment.
c) Is this graph an example of a linear function? Explain.
- The graph on below shows analog TV sales (in millions) for the years from 2004 to 2008.
a) For the graph of analog TV sales, determine the slope of the line segment from 2005 to 2006.
b) Is the slope of the line segment positive or negative?
c) Find the average rate of change from 2004 to 2008.
- In Livonia, Michigan, firefighters with 0 years of experience earn an annual salary of $33,259 and fire- fighters with 5 years of experience earn an annual salary of $47,091. Let S represent the annual firefighters salary and let t represent years of experience.
a) Determine a linear function that fits this data.
b) Use the function from part a) to estimate the annual salary for a firefighter with 3 years of experience.
c) Assuming this trend continues, what will be the annual salary for a firefighter with 10 years of experience?
d) Assuming this trend continues, how many years of experience must a firefighter have to earn an annual salary of $52,623.80?
