Question

The function y = f(x) is graphed below. What is the average rate of change of the function f(x) on the interval -9 ≤ x ≤ -4?​

Answer 1

2.4

Explanation:

You want the average rate of change on the interval [-9, -4] for the graphed function.

Average rate of change

The average rate of change (m) is the slope of the line between the points at the ends of the interval. For function f(x) on interval [a, b], this is ...

m = (f(b) -f(a))/(b -a)

Application

For the function f(x) on the interval [-9, -4], the average rate of change is ...

m = (f(-4) -f(-9))/(-4 -(-9)) = (-4 -(-16))/5 = 12/5 = 2.4

The average rate of change of f(x) on [-9, -4] is 2.4.