Carly received $50 every week for babysitting for her neighbors. She decides to save the money she receives to help pay for a camp she wants to attend next summer.

Question

Create a linear formula for Carly’s savings over time

Answer 1

To create a linear formula for Carly's savings over time, we can define the variables:

• Let \( S \) be the total amount of savings in dollars.
• Let \( t \) be the number of weeks Carly babysits.

Since Carly receives $50 each week, her savings increases by $50 for every week she babysits. We can express this relationship with the following linear equation:

\[ S = 50t \]

In this formula:

• \( S \) is the total savings after \( t \) weeks.
• \( 50 \) is the amount in dollars Carly saves each week.
• \( t \) is the number of weeks.

This equation shows that Carly's savings is directly proportional to the number of weeks she works. If you know how many weeks she has been babysitting, you can easily calculate her total savings by plugging that value in for \( t \).