In 1998 the U.S. Hispanic high school dropout rate was 29.5% and in 2008 it had dropped to 18.3%. Let d (the outputs) represent the U.S. Hispanic high school dropout rate and y (the inputs) represent the years since 1990. Find a linear model for the dropped rate given the year.
linear model is given by y=mx+c, where m is the slope and c is the intercept. From the information given, let 1998 be our starting point, 0. 2008 will be time,x=2008-1990=18 therefore our points will be: (0, 0.295) and (18,0.183) To find a linear expression we need the value of the slope, m. m=(Δy-axis)/(Δx-axis) given our points: m=(0.183-0.295)/(18-0)=-0.112/18=-0.0062 the linear expression will be found using the formula: m(x-x1)=(y-y1) m=-0.0062 x1=0.295 y1=0 hence: -0.0062(x-0)=y-0.295 -0.0062x=y-0.295 thus; y=-0.0062x+0.295 the equation modeling the number of dropouts will be y=-0.0062x+0.295
