Math Terms

y intercept: The y-coordinate of the point where the graph of a line crosses the y-axis.

y-coordinate: The second number in an ordered pair

x-intercept: The x-coordinate of the point where the graph of a line crosses the x-axis

intersection point: The point where two or more lines intersect

linear equation: An equation whose graph is a straight line

Parts of a linear equation:

y=mx+b

The above equation may look odd, maybe even silly, but that very equation is what helps us create the very equations in this skydiving exercise.

I plan to show you the different parts of an equation, and how to pick them out of a problem.

First:

mx

This looks really strange right?

Yes, of course it looks odd to untrained eye. But really this helps us with many equations we use in our daily lives.

The mx part of the equation is the slope of the equation, or the ratio of movement (rise over run)

Second:

b

Another one?

Yes, another one.

The b part of the equation is the y-intercept, or the point where the line crosses the y-axis.

Easy? Of course.

Now we are going to adapt what we have learned to a problem. I will underline the key points.

Calculate when to deploy a parachute. Consider a skydiver who free falls from 3000 m in the spread stable position with a terminal velocity of 53 m/s.

This example gives us two pieces of information, the slope and the y-intercept.

The slope would be -53x

The y intercept would be 3000

So your equation would be y=-53x+3000