Question

Brandon has a 55-gallon fish tank. He estimates he can drain the tank at an average rate of 11 gallons per minute. In a linear model of this situation, x represents the number of minutes the tank has been draining and y represents the amount of water in the tank. Relative to this situation, what does the y-intercept represent? A. The y-intercept represents the number of minutes it takes to drain the tank. B. The y-intercept represents the amount of water in the tank before it begins draining. C. The y-intercept represents the rate at which the tank can be drained. D. The y-intercept represents the amount of water in the tank after it has been drained.

Answer 1

A y-intercept takes the form (0, y(0)). We're told that Brandon is taking y(x) to be the amount of water in the tank after x minutes. If x = 0, then no time has passed, and y(0) refers to the 55 gallons of water in the tank at the start. So the answer is B.