Name: __________________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: ___________
Interpreting x- and y-intercepts
1) One summer you charge $20 to mow a lawn and $10 to trim bushes. You want to make $3000 in one
week. An algebraic model for your earnings is 20x + 10y = 3000, where x is the number of lawns you
mow and y is the number of bushes you trim.
a. Find the x- and y-intercepts of the equation.
x-intercept: _______________
y-intercept: ________________
b. Use the x- and y-intercepts that you found in part a) to create a graph of the equation. Count by
25s on the graph.
c. Using your graph, fill in the table below with four different combinations of ways that you can
earn $3000 mowing lawns and trimming bushes.
# of Lawns
Mowed (x)
# of Bushes
Trimmed (y)
d. What does the point (75, 150) represent in the real world situation?
e. Describe in words what the x-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.
f. Describe in words what the y-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.
2) You are organizing the annual spaghetti dinner to raise funds for a local zoo. Your goal is to sell $4000
worth of tickets. Adult tickets will cost $10 per ticket while student tickets will cost $5 per ticket. An
algebraic model for the amount of money you will earn is $10x + 5y = 4000 where x is the number of
adult tickets you will sell and y is the number of student tickets you will sell.
a. Find the x- and y-intercepts of the equation.
x-intercept: _______________
y-intercept: ________________
b. Use the x- and y-intercepts that you found in part a) to create a graph of the equation. Count by
50s on the graph.
c. Using your graph, fill in the table below with four different combinations of ways that you can
earn $4000 selling student and adult tickets.
# of Adult
Tickets Sold
(x)
# of Student
Tickets Sold
(y)
d. What does the point (50, 700) represent in the real world situation?
e. Describe in words what the x-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.
f. Describe in words what the y-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.
3) A rabbit is 75 feet from its home. It is hopping toward its home at a rate of 5 feet per minute. This
situation can be modeled by the following equation, y = 75 – 5x, where y is the distance the rabbit is
from its home and x is the number of minutes the rabbit has been hopping.
a. Find the x- and y-intercepts of the equation.
x-intercept: _______________
y-intercept: ________________
b. Use the x- and y-intercepts that you found in part a) to create a graph of the equation. Count by
1s on the horizontal axis. Count by 5s on the vertical axis.
c. Using your graph, fill in the table below with four points from your graph.
Time
(x)
Distance from
Home (y)
d. What does the point (2, 65) represent in the real world situation?
e. Describe in words what the x-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.
f. Describe in words what the y-intercept of your graph represents in the real world situation.