Finding the Equation of a Line from a Graph: Kudzu Vine Growth

Published on March 10, 2026

Algebra

Determine the linear equation (y = mx + b) modeling the length of a kudzu vine over time by calculating the slope (rate of growth) and the y-intercept from the provided graph.

Question

Answer

The problem asks to write an equation for the function shown in the graph, in the form . Here, is the length of the vine in feet, and is the number of days it grows.
Step 1: Find the y-intercept ( ).
The -intercept is the point where the line crosses the -axis (where ).
From the graph, when , the value of is 4.
Thus, the -intercept .
Step 2: Find the slope ( ).
The slope represents the rate of change (growth per day) and can be calculated using two points and on the line:
We already have one point: .
Let’s find another clear point on the line. The line appears to pass through .
Let .
Now, calculate the slope :
The slope .
Alternatively, we can check another point, such as :
The slope is consistently .
Step 3: Write the equation.
Substitute the values of and into the slope-intercept form :
This simplifies to:
The required format is .
The first box is for the slope ( ), and the second box is for the -intercept ( ).
The equation for the function is:
Final Answer:
The equation is .