HOPE Charter School Thursday, April 23, 2009

2009 PSSA Boot Camp

PSSA Math Reporting Categories:

A Numbers and Operations
B Measurement
C Geometry
√ D Algebraic Concepts
√ E Data Analysis and Probability

SOLUTION
Name (legibly printed): _______________________________________________

Seminar (circle one): Ackerman Beals Capers Harvey Hickson

Instructions:
• Place your solution into box in front of main office by end of 4th period today.
• Winner will be announced during 6th period lunch today. Winner will be
randomly selected from all entries, but the answer must be correct and justified
(SHOW WORK OR EXPLAIN).
• Link with questions and solutions posted at http://hopecharter.blogspot.com

The table below shows a relationship between x and y.

X Y
1 1
3 -3
6 -9
8 -13

Which of these equations represents this relationship?

A y = 2x – 1
B y = 2x – 2
C y = –2x + 3
D y = –2x – 1

(NEXT PAGE)
Solution:

This can be solved using any of the ordered pairs … so this presented solution is one of
many solutions.

First calculate the slope, m

I will use the last 2 ordered pairs:
( x1 , y1 ) = ( 6, −9 )
( x2 , y2 ) = (8, −13)
∆y y2 − y1 −13 − ( −9 ) −4
m= = = = = −2
∆x x2 − x1 8−6 2
So the slope-intercept form of a linear function, y = mx + b , becomes:
y = mx + b
y = ( −2 ) x + b

Now we need to solve for b , the y-intercept. We simple pick any ordered pair,
substitute, and solve for b . I will choose ( 3, −3)

−3 = ( −2 ) 3 + b
−3 = − 6 + b
3=b
So the completed linear equation becomes:
y = −2 x + 3