For tax purposes, you may have to report the value of your assets, such as cars or refrigerators. The value you report drops with time. "Straight-line depreciation" assumes that the value is a linear function of time. If a $1020 refrigerator depreciates completely in seven years, find a formula for its value as a function of time. (Let x represent the time in years and y be in terms of dollars.)

Question

I thought that the answer would be y= -145.7142857x + 1020 but I was told that it was wrong. I thought "b" in y=mx+b would be 1020 because that is how much the item is worth brand new. And I got the large negative slope value by using the points (0,1020) and (7,0) that I derived from the problem.

How do I go about solving this?

Answer 1

I believe you are correct.

Answer 2

Thank you!