Suppose you are offered a job with a starting salary of $35,000 and annual raises of $2700. This seems like a pretty straightforward offer. The first year you make $35,000, the second year you make $2700 more, and the third year you make $2700 more, and so on. With a little effort, you could make up a table like the one below.
| Year | Salary |
| First | $35,000 |
| Second | $37,700 |
| Third | $40,400 |
| Fourth | $43,100 |
This might suffice if you are short term worker only interest in the immediate few years. But if you are thinking long-term, you might be interested in determining how long it would be before you made $100,000 or even more?
This salary is an example of linear growth. In this section and the next, we will learn how to use equation to predict how a quantity like salary grows linearly. In particular, you will learn how to
- solve linear equations,
- and use intercepts to graph linear equations.
These skills will help us to visualize and apply linear growth.
Use the workbook and videos below to help you achieve these objectives.
Section 4.1 Workbook (PDF) 10/19/19
Section 4.1 Practice Solutions
