Question

Russell closely monitored the balance of his checking account.
Russell's checking account balance
Month Amount
January $440
February $432
March $432
April $441
May $425
According to the table, what was the rate of change between January and April?
Round your answer to the nearest cent.
$
permonth

Answer 1

To calculate the rate of change between January and April, we need to find the difference in the account balance between these two months and then divide that difference by the number of months between them.

**Checking account balance:**
- January: $440
- April: $441

**Step 1: Calculate the difference in balance.**
\[
\text{Difference} = \text{April balance} - \text{January balance} = 441 - 440 = 1
\]

**Step 2: Determine the number of months between January and April.**
From January to April, there are 3 months (February, March, and April).

**Step 3: Calculate the rate of change.**
\[
\text{Rate of change} = \frac{\text{Difference}}{\text{Number of months}} = \frac{1}{3}
\]

**Step 4: Convert to decimal and round.**
\[
\frac{1}{3} \approx 0.3333
\]
Rounding to the nearest cent:
\[
0.3333 \, \text{per month} \approx 0.33 \, \text{per month}
\]

Therefore, the rate of change between January and April is approximately **$0.33 per month**.