Question

A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when wind speeds are at least 74 miles per hour. When does the storm become a hurricane? (The wind speed y, in miles per hour, of a tropical storm is y = 2x + 66, where x is the number of hours after the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico).

74 hours
4 hours
15 hours
33 hours

Answer 1

A tropical storm becomes a hurricane 4 hours after entering the Gulf of Mexico, based on the provided wind speed equation y = 2x + 66 where y is 74 miles per hour.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine when a tropical storm becomes a hurricane, we need to solve the equation provided for when the wind speed y is at least 74 miles per hour. The equation for wind speed is y = 2x + 66, where x is the number of hours after the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico. We can set y to 74 and solve for x:

• 74 = 2x + 66
• 74 - 66 = 2x
• 8 = 2x
• x = 4

Therefore, the tropical storm becomes a hurricane 4 hours after it enters the Gulf of Mexico.