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Problem of the Week
Problem B and Solution
Banking on Amir

Problem

Amir’s aunt wants to help him develop an education fund so that he can go to drumming school. He started a bank account with \(\$40\), and each month thereafter a \(\$20\) deposit is to be made.

The graph below shows how the bank account grows over time (with no interest).

A graph of Account Balance versus Number of Months with five data points plotted as follows: At 0 months, the account balance is 40; at 1 month, the balance is 60; at 2 months, it is 80; at 3 months, it is 100; and at 4 months, it is 120. The graph continues through to month 9 but no data points are plotted past month 4.

  1. Create a table of values, listing the five ordered pairs of coordinates from the graph, as indicated by the dots.

  2. What is the pattern rule for the monthly account balance? Use your rule to add as many points to the graph as possible.

  3. How much will Amir have in his account after \(6\) months? Show on the graph how you got your answer.

  4. After how many months will Amir have \(\$220\) in his account? Show on the graph how you got your answer.

Not printing this page? You can use our interactive worksheet.

Solution

  1. A table of values, listing the five ordered pairs of coordinates from the graph, is below.

    Number of Months Account Balance (\$)
    \(0\) \(40\)
    \(1\) \(60\)
    \(2\) \(80\)
    \(3\) \(100\)
    \(4\) \(120\)

  2. The pattern rule for the monthly account balance is "Start at \(40\) and add \(20\) each month". Using this pattern rule, we can complete the graph up to \(9\) months, as shown below.

    A graph of Account Balance versus Number of Months with 10 data points plotted. The data points are given in the following data table.

  3. For part (c), we start at \((6,0)\) on the \(x\)-axis and move up to the (blue) dot, then left to the \(y\)-axis, which indicates \(\$160\), as shown by the green arrows (dashed lines) on the graph. Thus, Amir will have \(\$160\) in his account after \(6\) months.

    A vertical arrow points from 6 marked on the horizontal axis to a dot directly above on the graph. A horizontal arrow points from this dot to 160 marked on the vertical axis.

  4. For part (d), we start at \((220,0)\) on the \(y\)-axis, and move to the right, reaching the (blue) dot, and then down to the \(x\)-axis, which indicates \(9\) months, as shown by the red arrows (dashed-dotted lines) on the graph. Thus, after \(9\) months, Amir will have \(\$220\) in his account.

    A horizontal arrow points from 220 marked on the vertical axis to a dot to its right on the graph. A vertical arrow points from this dot down to 9 marked on the horizontal axis.