Question

You record the following data from the annual Park Cleanup Day. Based on the data, is there a direct variation or an inverse variation? Explain your reasoning.

Volunteers- 5,10,20
Hours- 12,6,3
Please show your work

Answer 1

Observe that as the number of volunteers increases, the number of hours required to complete the work decreases. This is inverse variation.

Note that if we go from 5 volunteers to 10, the number of hours required drops from 12 to 6 Similarly, if we go from 10 volunteers to 20, the number of hours drops from 6 to 3.