Question

At the end of a snow storm, Julian saw there was a lot of snow on his front lawn. The

temperature increased and the snow began to melt at a steady rate. Let S represent
the depth of snow on Julian's lawn, in inches, t hours after the snow stopped falling.
A graph of S is shown below. Write an equation for S then state the z-intercept of
the graph and determine its interpretation in the context of the problem.

Answer 1

the y-intercept is 15 which is the initial total depth of the snow at t=0 hours.

The rate of melting is 1.5inches per hour. It will take 10 hours at the melting rate given of 1.5 to melt all the snow.

Explanation:

the y-intercept is 15, and it might mean that the total depth of the snow is 15 inches.

The rate of melting is 1.5inches per hour.

At time = 0, S=15 - 1.5t = 15 - 1.5(0) = 15 inches to start

At time = 10, S=15 - 1.5t = 15 - 1.5(10) = 0 inches; meaning all snow has melted and it took 10 hours.