Features of Graphs

Question

A squirrel runs up and down a tree.

The graph shows the height of the squirrel,  (feet), as a function of time,  (seconds).

1. What is the highest point the squirrel reaches?

14

1. Solve . What does this solution tell you about the squirrel?
2. Find the vertical intercept of the graph. What does it tell you about the squirrel?

Answer 1

1) To find the highest point the squirrel reaches, we have to look at the highest y-value of the graph. The highest y-value of the graph is 14, so the squirrel's highest point over this interval is 14 feet.

1) To find h(t)=0, we have to determine the time at which the squirrel's height is zero (in other words, when is the y-value 0). This occurs at t = 4, which tells you that the squirrel is at height zero (on the ground) at 4 seconds.

2) The vertical intercept of the graph is the y-value when t=0. Looking at the graph, we see that the y-value is 9 when t=0. This means that the squirrel is at 9 feet when time is zero.

Answer 2

Hi Jessica! To answer your question:

1. h(t)=0 when t=4. This tells you that the height of the squirrel on the tree after 4 seconds is 0 ft.
2. The vertical intercept is where the graph crosses the y-axis. Therefore, the vertical intercept is (0,9). The tells you that the squirrel is starting from a height of 9 feet at time 0.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out!