Question

A snowstorm took place during the weekend. meteorologists tracked the total amount of snowfall for the storm. for the first 2 hours, it snowed at a rate of 1 inch per hour. the snow stopped for an hour and a half, then resumed at a rate of 1.5 inches per hour for the next 3 hours. based on this information, what scale would work best for representing the data on the x-axis?
O 3
O 5
O 0.5
O 2

Answer 1

To determine the best scale for representing the data on the x-axis, we need to first break down the timeline of the snowfall:

1. **First 2 hours**: It snowed at a rate of 1 inch per hour.
2. **Stopped for 1.5 hours**.
3. **Next 3 hours**: It resumed snowing at a rate of 1.5 inches per hour.

Now let's summarize the total duration of the storm:

- **Total duration of snowing**: 2 hours + 3 hours = 5 hours
- **Total duration including the stopped time**: 5 hours + 1.5 hours = 6.5 hours

Given this information, the x-axis should represent a total duration of 6.5 hours.

Now, we must choose from the provided scale options: 3, 5, 0.5, and 2.

- **Scale of 0.5**: This would allow for detailed representation of the time intervals, ideally covering each hour and half-hour, making it very precise for the 6.5-hour duration.
- **Scale of 1**: Not an option here, but good to mention as 1 hour would also work, as it spans 0 to 7 easily.
- **Scale of 2**: This would cover 0 to 8 hours but isn't as granular.
- **Scale of 3 and 5**: Would cover too few intervals and lose some granularity.

The best option for representing the duration covering 6.5 hours while allowing clear granularity between hours would be a scale of **0.5 hours**. Thus, the answer is **0.5**.