The cost of one pencil is $3, and the total cost of three pencils is $9. Which of the following is true? The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost does not increase with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost does not increase with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and it does not increase proportionally with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and it does not increase proportionally with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost increases with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost increases with the number of pencils. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and each pencil costs $3. The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and each pencil costs $3.

The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and each pencil costs $3.

The correct answer is: The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost of zero pencils is $0 and each pencil costs $3.

The correct statement is: "The number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship because the cost increases with the number of pencils."

To understand why this is true, we can use the given information. We know that the cost of one pencil is $3, and the total cost of three pencils is $9. This implies that the cost increases proportionally with the number of pencils.

We can calculate the cost per pencil by dividing the total cost by the number of pencils. In this case, $9 divided by 3 gives us $3, which is the cost of one pencil. Since the cost per pencil remains constant regardless of the number of pencils, we can say that the number of pencils and the total cost are in a proportional relationship. For example, if we were to double the number of pencils, the total cost would also double.