The equation y = 3x + 7 is linear because it describes a straight line when plotted on a graph.
In a linear equation, the variable x is raised to the power of 1, and the equation has the general form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.
In this case, 3 is the slope, and 7 is the y-intercept. The rate of change in y with respect to x is constant, which is characteristic of linear functions.
Exponential functions, on the other hand, involve variables in the exponent, such as