Question

One day, Carlos bought a plant and named it Xanthius. It was 42 inches tall when he bought the plant. After 14 days, Carlos notices that the plant is 45 inches tall. Use this information to create a linear equation of the growth of the plant.

Answer 1

To create a linear equation for the growth of a plant, find the rate of growth per day, and use the equation y = mx + b, where y is the height of the plant, x is the number of days, m is the growth rate per day, and b is the initial height.

Step-by-step explanation:

To create a linear equation for the growth of the plant, we need to find the rate at which the plant is growing per day. We can do this by finding the change in height over the number of days. From the information given, the initial height of the plant is 42 inches and the height after 14 days is 45 inches. Therefore, the change in height over 14 days is 45 - 42 = 3 inches. Now we can set up the equation y = mx + b, where y represents the height of the plant, x represents the number of days, m represents the growth rate per day, and b represents the initial height. In this case, y - 42 = m(x - 0), since the initial height is 42 inches when x = 0. Substituting the values we know, we have 45 - 42 = m(14 - 0). Solving for m, we find m = 3/14. Therefore, the linear equation for the growth of the plant is y = (3/14)x + 42.