Jesse is making dinner, and he puts a pan of sweet potatoes in the oven. Let f (t) be the temperature of the sweet potatoes t minutes after Jesse places them in the oven.

Question

Based on the context, what does f (5) < f (10) mean?

A. The weight of the sweet potatoes at 5 minutes is less than the weight of the sweet potatoes at 10 minutes. B. The temperature of 5 sweet potatoes in the oven is less than the temperature of 10 sweet potatoes in the oven.

C. The temperature of the sweet potatoes at 5 minutes is less than the temperature of the sweet potatoes at 10 minutes.

D. The weight of 10 sweet potatoes is more than the weight of 5 sweet potatoes.

Answer 1

t represents the number of elapsed minutes since Jesse placed the potatoes in the oven.

f(t) represents the temperature of the potatoes, t minutes after they were placed in the oven.

For example, f(3) = 200 would mean that, 3 minutes after they were placed in the oven, the potatoes were 200 degrees.

f(5) and f(10) represent the temperature of the potatoes 5 and 10 minutes after they were placed in the oven, respectively.

Therefore, f(5) < f(10) means that the temp. of the potatoes after 5 mins is less than the temp of the potatoes after 10 mins, so C is the correct answer