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Is it linear or exponential

Linear is a straight line. You might have heard of Linear Function.
[tex]y = mx + b[/tex]
The equation above is slope-intercept form.
Exponential is both increasing graph and decreasing graph depending on the coefficient.
Exponential Equation
[tex]y = {a}^{x} \: \: \: (a > 0) \: \: (a \neq1)[/tex]
Exponential Graph increases when a-term is greater or equal to 1.
Exponential Graph decreases when a-term is greater than 0 but less than 1.
From the equation, it is exponential of x-term as an exponent. The equation matches with exponential form.