Question

You buy a saguaro cactus 5 feet high, and it grows at a rate of 0.2 inches each year. Express its height "h", in inches, as an explicit formula of time "t", in years, since the purchase.

Answer 1

The height 'h' in inches of the saguaro cactus as a function of time 't' in years since purchase is given by the explicit formula h = 60 + (0.2 × t), where the initial height is 60 inches and the growth rate is 0.2 inches/year.

Step-by-step explanation:

You initially buy a saguaro cactus that is 5 feet high. Since 1 foot is equivalent to 12 inches, the initial height of the cactus is 5 feet × 12 inches/foot = 60 inches. The cactus grows at a rate of 0.2 inches per year. To express the height of the cactus as an explicit formula, you would use the equation:

h = initial height + (growth rate × time)

The initial height is 60 inches, the growth rate is 0.2 inches/year, and time is represented by 't' in years since the cactus was purchased. So the formula becomes:

h = 60 + (0.2 × t)

This equation allows you to calculate the height 'h' of the cactus in inches at any given time 't' in years.