Question

The amount of money, per year, that a farmer in Florida pays to maintain their citrus crops between 1989 and 2011 is modeled by the equation P = 1.52t+100, where P is the amount of money the farmers paid, in thousands of dollars, and t is the year (assuming 1989 is t = 0). What does 1.52 mean in the equation?

Answer 1

In the equation, 1.52 represents the amount in thousands of dollars by which the farmer's maintenance costs for citrus crops increase annually, starting from 1989.

Step-by-step explanation:

The number 1.52 in the equation P = 1.52t + 100 represents the annual increase in the amount of money, in thousands of dollars, that a farmer in Florida pays to maintain their citrus crops, starting from the year 1989. As per the equation, for each passing year (t), the maintenance costs go up by 1.52 thousand dollars. Hence, if t = 1, which corresponds to the year 1990, the maintenance cost would be P = 1.52(1) + 100 = 101.52 thousand dollars. This rate of change indicates a linear growth in maintenance costs over the years.