You use a faucet to fill a watering can that holds ounces of water. You measure the amount of the water in the can every seconds. The table shows the data. What is the rate of change of the amount of the water in the watering can? What does the rate of change mean in this situation? How many seconds after the last measurement in the table will the watering can be full?
Filling a Watering Can
Time (seconds)
0
Ounces of Water
0
2
5
9
14
20
26
33
41
Ounces of Water
0.5
1.0
2.0
3.5
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
To find the rate of change of the amount of water in the watering can, we can calculate the slope of the line connecting two consecutive data points. For example, between 9 and 14 seconds, the amount of water increased from 2.0 to 3.5 ounces, so the slope is:
slope = change in amount of water / change in time
slope = (3.5 - 2.0) / (14 - 9) = 0.3 ounces per second
We can repeat this calculation for each pair of consecutive data points and get the following rates of change:
Time (s) | Rate of Change (ounces/s)
---------|-------------------------
0-2 | 0.25
2-5 | 0.17
5-9 | 0.33
9-14 | 0.30
14-20 | 0.25
20-26 | 0.17
26-33 | 0.20
33-41 | 0.25
The rate of change represents how fast the amount of water in the can is increasing over time. In this situation, it tells us how quickly the faucet is filling the watering can. For example, a rate of change of 0.25 ounces per second means that the can is filling up at a rate of 0.25 ounces per second.
To determine how many seconds after the last measurement in the table the watering can will be full, we need to find the time when the amount of water reaches 8 ounces, which is the capacity of the can. We can estimate this time by using linear interpolation between two consecutive data points that bracket the 8-ounce mark:
Time (s) | Ounces of Water
---------|----------------
33 | 7.0
41 | 8.0
Between 33 and 41 seconds, the amount of water increases by 1 ounce over a period of 8 seconds. Therefore, we can estimate that it will take another 8 seconds to add another ounce and fill up the can:
t = 41 + (8 / 1) = 49 seconds
Therefore, the watering can will be full approximately 49 seconds after the last measurement in the table.
how do i find rate of change?
To find the rate of change, you need to calculate how much one variable changes with respect to another variable. Typically, you would divide the change in the dependent variable by the change in the independent variable. For example, if you have a set of data with time on the x-axis and distance on the y-axis, you could find the rate of change of distance with respect to time by dividing the change in distance by the change in time:
rate of change = change in distance / change in time
This would give you the average rate of change over the specified time period. You can also find the instantaneous rate of change at a specific point by calculating the slope of the tangent line at that point. This can be done using calculus by taking the derivative of the function.
Unsimple Answer.
The rate of change is the ratio of how much one variable changes with respect to the change in another variable. This means that if you have two variables that are related, such as time and distance, you can calculate the rate of change of distance with respect to time by dividing the change in distance by the change in time. In other words, you can find how fast the distance is changing over a period of time. This is useful in various fields such as physics, biology, finance, etc.
can you give an example?
Sure, let's say you are driving a car and you want to calculate the rate of change of your distance from a certain point over time. You can start by recording your distance from that point at different times. Let's say you record the following data:
| Time (hours) | Distance (miles) |
|--------------|------------------|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 50 |
| 2 | 100 |
| 3 | 150 |
To find the rate of change of distance with respect to time, you can calculate how much your distance changes over each hour:
| Time (hours) | Distance (miles) | Change in distance (miles) | Change in time (hours) | Rate of change (miles/hour) |
|--------------|------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | 50 | 50 | 1 | 50 |
| 2 | 100 | 50 | 1 | 50 |
| 3 | 150 | 50 | 1 | 50 |
From this, we can see that you are driving at a constant rate of 50 miles per hour. This means that your distance from the starting point is changing by 50 miles every hour.
In this example, the rate of change tells you how fast you are moving away from the starting point. Without the rate of change, you would only know your distance at different times, but you wouldn't know how fast you are moving away from the starting point, which is an important piece of information for driving, navigation, and many other applications.
can you make it easier to understand?
Sure thing! Let's say you are driving a car and you want to know how fast you are driving away from a specific point. To figure that out, you need to know the rate of change of your distance from that point as time goes by.
One way to do that is to record your distance from that point at different times, like so:
| Time (hours) | Distance (miles) |
|--------------|------------------|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 50 |
| 2 | 100 |
| 3 | 150 |
In this example, your distance from the point is changing by 50 miles every hour. So your rate of change of distance is 50 miles per hour. That means you are driving away from that point at a constant speed of 50 miles per hour.
So, the rate of change is how fast one variable (in this case, your distance from the point) is changing compared to the change in another variable (in this case, time).