The ant problem (Math)

Question

Let y=4t+2 be a linear function representing the distance from home for an ant t minutes after starting out from a location near its home. What does the number 4 represent?

 

A.) The ant started out 4 feet from its home.

B.) The ant is crawling at 4 feet per minute.

C.) The ant moving 4 feet every 2 minutes.

D.) The ant is 4 feet from its home after t minutes.

Answer 1

Emoni,

 

In the function y = 4t+2, y = distance.  This means that the right-hand side of the equation 4t+2 also equal distance.

 

Since distance is equal to velocity x time and t = time in minutes, the number 4 must represent feet per min.

 

∴ 4 = 4ft/min (4 feet per minute), so your answer must be (B)

Answer 2

the distance y increases by 4 units for every additional minute so the 4 must be how fast the ant is crawling and the answer is B

 

Answer 3

The answer is B.) only under the assumption that the distance y is measured in feet.  That is a reasonable assumption based on observations of ants, but the problem does not specify the units of distance.