Question

PLEASE HELP:
Trevor is a salesperson who earns a weekly salary and a commission that is 7% of his weekly sales. In one week Trevor's sales were $952.00 and his weekly income was $466.64. In another week his sales were $2515.00 and his weekly income was $576.05.
a. Write a linear equation in slope-intercept form for Trevor's weekly income, y, in terms of his weekly sales, x.
b. What is Trevor's weekly salary?

Answer 1

Still there?

Answer 2

yea

Answer 3

ok, we can do this (me AND you).

Answer 4

ok

Answer 5

This is just a problem in getting a line from 2 points. y = mx + b. Y will be income. b will be his weekly salary. x will be sales. weekly salary will a constant.

Answer 6

ok will there be two equations?

Answer 7

You are given 2 values for y and 2 values for x. You can then use (y2 - y1)/(x2 - x1) = m. You can get m from the % of sales commission. Only one equation constructed from the 2 points.

Answer 8

so do i get multiply the weekly sales by .07 first?

Answer 9

then i do y2-y1/x2-x1

Answer 10

You multiply mx by x to get the commission in $.

Answer 11

but i need the coordinates to do y2-y1/x2-x1

Answer 12

You might want to start with figuring out his base salary. That part will be very easy because you only need one point for that since so much info is given in the problem statement. Use y - mx = b. Use either point, and you will get the rsame correct answer. I worked it out both ways and the answer is the same.

Answer 13

y-mx=b?

Answer 14

You were given the coordinates. If you read my posts and ascribe the corresponding x's and y's, you will have your coordinates. As i said we are BOTH doing the problem. I do not hand out answers. I give strong hints and set up the problem for people.

Answer 15

so so the coordinates would be (952,466.64) (2515, 576.05)? but do you multiply the weekly sales(952,2515) by .07 first to get his commission?

Answer 16

would x be the weekly sales or his commission

Answer 17

You're doing well. You have now identified the coordinates and that is very good. You would multiply m by x (commission rate by sales) to get the commission. They already gave you the y (total income for the week), so you just have to subtract mx from y to get b or the base salary. You can use either point, they both give the same answer.

Answer 18

I have already identified x for you. If you still have a question on that, go back and read my posts.

Answer 19

ok so i find the slope and then substitute it into y=mx+b to get the salary?

Answer 20

I'm going to answer your questions by asking you questions. What is y?

Answer 21

total income for the week

Answer 22

good. What makes up the total income for the week (in words and variables)?

Answer 23

b(weekly sales)

Answer 24

x(sales)

Answer 25

b is weekly salary

Answer 26

You're close. You're right about x being sales, but you're off on b. b is his salary. Salary + sales commission (sales x commission rate or x multiplied by m) = income = y. With that info, you are 90% done.

Answer 27

so if i solve 466.64=.07(952)+b i will get the salary?

Answer 28

but wouldnt i have 2 equations since i can sub in either one? which one do i use?

Answer 29

yes. If you used the other point, you would still get the same salary also. You can use either point.

Answer 30

so do i write down both equations?

Answer 31

They are just 2 points on the same line. You don't even need the second point to do this problem. It's there for 2 reasons. 1) to give a person practice digging out of a word problem only that which is essential (sufficient and necessary) to do the problem. And 2) so you can confirm your answer (equation and value for salary) with the second point, which again, isn't that important. You would need the second point if you were not given the value for m, sales commission.

Answer 32

ok

Answer 33

Last time. One equation. I cannot help you any further. Now, 98% of the work is done.

Answer 34

ok thanks

Answer 35

good luck.