The amount of laps remaining, y, in a swimmer's race after x minutes can be represented by the graph shown.
coordinate grid with the x axis labeled time in minutes and the y axis labeled number of laps remaining with a line from 0 comma 26 and 13 comma 0
Determine the slope of the line and explain its meaning in terms of the real-world scenario.
The slope of the line is 13, which means that the swimmer will finish the race after 13 minutes.
The slope of the line is 26, which means that the swimmer must complete 26 laps in the race.
The slope of the line is negative one half, which means that the swimmer completes a lap in one half of a minute.
The slope of the line is −2, which means that the swimmer will complete 2 laps every minute.
The correct interpretation is:
The slope of the line is -2, which means that the swimmer will complete 2 laps every minute. This means that the swimmer's pace is to swim 2 laps per minute, so the number of laps remaining decreases by 2 for every minute that passes.