Mary's dog was placed on a strict diet by her veterinarian. The veterinarian told Mary that Emma would need to loose one-half of pound per month. Write an equation that relates Emma's weight in pounds (p) to the number of months (m) that she is dieting, given that Emma currently weighs 38 pounds. 1. What is the beginning weight or b or the y-intercept?

2. What is the rate of change or slope or m?

3. Replace those two values in slope-intercept form y=mx+ b