Question

Today was a snow day. Felicia decided to track the snowfall. There were already 2 inches of snow on the ground from a previous storm. Felicia measured the snow from today's storm at the end of each hour. She found that exactly 1.5 inches of snow fell each hour. If it snowed at this rate for 5 hours, how much snow was on the ground at the end of each hour?

a) 2 inches
b) 3.5 inches
c) 6 inches
d) 7.5 inches

Answer 1

After the first hour, there were 3.5 inches of snow on the ground. By the end of 5 hours, there would be 9.5 inches of snow. Each hour saw an additional 1.5 inches of snow on top of the initial 2 inches.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's calculate how much snow was on the ground at the end of each hour after it started snowing. Felicia observed that 1.5 inches of snow fell each hour, and this continued for 5 hours. So we add 1.5 inches for each hour to the initial 2 inches of snow that was already on the ground.

1. End of Hour 1: 2 inches + 1.5 inches = 3.5 inches
2. End of Hour 2: 3.5 inches + 1.5 inches = 5 inches
3. End of Hour 3: 5 inches + 1.5 inches = 6.5 inches (At this point, schools would have to close, since it snowed more than three inches.)
4. End of Hour 4: 6.5 inches + 1.5 inches = 8 inches
5. End of Hour 5: 8 inches + 1.5 inches = 9.5 inches

Therefore, by the end of the 5 hours, there was a total of 9.5 inches of snow on the ground. At the end of each hour, the amounts of snow on the ground were 3.5 inches, 5 inches, 6.5 inches, 8 inches, and 9.5 inches respectively. The correct answer to how much snow was on the ground at the end of each hour is not directly listed among the options, but we can confirm that after the first hour, there were 3.5 inches of snow on the ground, making option b) 3.5 inches correct for the first hour, but not for the subsequent hours.