Problema Solution

josh bought a used 2008 Honda Civic in 2013 for $9000.The owner told him that he bought it three years ago for $11450. he plans to sell his car in five years.

A)Find a formula for the value of the car,v, in t years since the car was new (2008) assuming that the depreciation rate is constant.

Answer provided by our tutors

we assume a linear depreciation rate and we have two points to define our line: (2008, 11450) and (2013, 9000)


we make these points relative to the year 2008: (2008-2008, 11450) and (2013-2008, 9000)

giving: (0, 11450) and (5, 9000)


let 'v' represent the value and 't' represent the years since 2008, then we have this linear equation:

v - 114500 = (9000-11450)/(5-8) (t-5)

v = -490t + 11450


we have the following formula:

v = -490t + 11450