A party planner organized a dinner party. The party planner recorded the height of the candlesticks over time and graphed the relationship.
graph with the x axis labeled time in hours and the y axis labeled height of candlestick in inches and a line going from the point 0 comma 9 through the point 3 comma 7
Find and interpret the slope and y-intercept in this real-world situation.
a) The slope is negative two thirds, and the y-intercept is 9. The candle starts at a height of 9 inches and decreases two thirds of an inch every hour.
b) The slope is negative three halves, and the y-intercept is 9. The candle starts at a height of 9 inches and decreases three halves of an inch every hour.
c) The slope is 9, and the y-intercept is negative two thirds. The candle starts at a height of two thirds of an inch and decreases 9 inches every hour.
d) The slope is 9, and the y-intercept is negative three halves. The candle starts at a height of three halves of an inch and decreases 9 inches every hour.
The correct answer is a) The slope is negative two thirds, and the y-intercept is 9. The candle starts at a height of 9 inches and decreases two thirds of an inch every hour.
In this real-world situation, the slope represents the rate at which the height of the candlestick decreases over time. The negative two thirds slope means that for every hour that passes, the candlestick height decreases by two thirds of an inch.
The y-intercept of 9 represents the initial height of the candlestick when the time is 0 hours. This means that at the beginning of the dinner party, the candlestick was at a height of 9 inches.