Final answer:
The canoe rental cost of $20 plus $5 for each hour is an example of direct variation. The equation that expresses the total cost in terms of the number of hours rented is y = 5x + 20, where y represents the total cost and x represents the number of hours rented.
Step-by-step explanation:
In this situation, the cost of the canoe rental is $20 plus $5 for each hour of the rental. This is an example of direct variation because the cost increases directly with the number of hours rented.
To determine if a situation shows direct variation, we can write the equation in the form y = kx, where y represents the dependent variable (in this case, the total cost) and x represents the independent variable (in this case, the number of hours rented).
So, the equation that expresses the total cost in terms of the number of hours rented is y = 5x + 20. Here, the constant of variation is 5, which represents the $5 per hour charge, and the initial cost is $20, represented by the y-intercept.