8649 students were sitting in a lecture room in such a manner that there were as many students in the row as there were rows in the lecture room. How many students were there in each row of the lecture room

In order for the function to be linear, what must m be and why? m = 22 because the rate of change is 1. m = 20 because the rate of change is 3. m = 22 because the rate of change is -1. m = 20 because the rate of change is -3.