Question

A horse owner has 50 lbs of hay that is 6% protein by weight. He adds x lbs of oats that is 12% protein by weight.

The function es002-1.jpg models the percent of protein, y, in the final mixture of feed.

What is the y-intercept of the function that models the percent of protein in the final mixture?

The y-intercept is

Answer 1

y = percent protein = (3 + 0.12x)/(50 + x) · 100, so at x = 0, y = (3/50)·100 = 6.

The y-intercept is 6 (or the point (0, 6)), i.e. 6%.