Question

Ms. Mac and Mr. Wilson both buy the same type of plant, but Mr. Wilson buys her plant having already grown 10 inches. Ms. Mac buys and plants the seed herself. They both start measuring the height of their plants and realize that Ms. Mac’s plant is growing 5 times as fast as Mr. Wilson’s. If after 5 weeks, Mr. Wilson and Ms. Mac’s plants are the same height, write and solve an equation that would allow you to find the growth rate of Mr. Wilson’s plant.

Answer 1

To find the growth rate of Mr. Wilson's plant, we first need to determine the growth rate of Ms. Mac's plant. After 5 weeks, Ms. Mac’s plant would have grown 5 times faster. By using the growth rate equation, we can find the initial height of Mr. Wilson's plant.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the growth rate of Mr. Wilson's plant, we first need to determine the growth rate of Ms. Mac's plant. Let's assume the initial height of Mr. Wilson's plant is 'x' inches.

After 5 weeks, Ms. Mac's plant would have grown 5 times faster, so its height would be 5 * 10 = 50 inches.

The growth rate can be calculated using the equation (Final Height - Initial Height) / Time = Growth Rate. Plugging in the values, we get (50 - 0) / 5 = 10 inches per week.

Now, since Mr. Wilson's plant is also the same height after 5 weeks, we can set up the equation (x + 10 * 5) / 5 = 10. Solving for 'x', we find that Mr. Wilson's plant had an initial height of 40 inches.