Question

In 1998, Hurricane Bonnie approached the United States at a speed of 8 miles per hour. The function y = 8x describes how many miles y Hurricane Bonnie traveled x hours. Use the graph to estimate how far the hurricane traveled in 2.5 hours.

Answer 1

20 miles

Explanation:

Given the equation of the line of the graph, y = 8x, where,

y = distance the hurricane travelled in miles

x = time of travel in hours

8 = slope/speed in miles/hour

To find how far the hurricane travelled in 2.5 hours, substitute x = 2.5 into y = 8x

This:

y = 8(2.5)

y = 20 miles

Thus, from the graph, we can estimate this also. On the x-axis, between 2 and 3, we have 2.5 hours. The corresponding value of x = 2.5 is y = 20.