Final answer:
OPTION C.The snail's average speed is calculated by converting 40 minutes to a fraction of an hour and then dividing the distance traveled by this time, resulting in 4.5 feet per hour.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the average speed of the snail per hour when it crawls 3 feet in 40 minutes, first convert 40 minutes to hours. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so 40 minutes is ⅓ of an hour (≈ 0.667 hours). Next, calculate the average speed by dividing the distance traveled by the time in hours. The snail's speed is 3 feet divided by 0.667 hours, which equals 4.5 feet per hour.
So, the correct answer is 4.5 feet per hour, which corresponds to option C.
To calculate the average speed per hour, we can use the formula: average speed = total distance ÷ total time. In this case, the snail crawls 3 feet in 40 minutes. To find the average speed per hour, we need to convert the time to hours and keep the distance in feet. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so 40 minutes is equal to 40 ÷ 60 = 0.67 hours. Now we can calculate the average speed: average speed = 3 feet ÷ 0.67 hours = 4.48 feet per hour (rounded to two decimal places). Therefore, the correct answer is D) 4.8 feet per hour.