This equation shows the linear relationship between the number of pancakes on a plate and the total weight of the plate of pancakes. x represents the number of pancakes, and y represents the total weight.

Question

This equation shows the linear relationship between the number of pancakes on a plate and the total weight of the plate of pancakes. x represents the number of pancakes, and y represents the total weight.
What does y=9.5 represent in this problem?
y
=
1.5x    +3.5
y
=
1.5·4+3.5
y
=
9.5

The total weight will be 9.5 ounces
when 4 pancakes are on the plate.

There are 9.5 pancakes on the plate.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

In the given linear equation $ y = 1.5x + 3.5 $, where $ x $ represents the number of pancakes and $ y $ represents the total weight in ounces, the equation allows us to determine the weight based on the number of pancakes. When you substitute $ x = 4 $ (meaning there are 4 pancakes), the calculation $ y = 1.5 \cdot 4 + 3.5 $ gives: $$ y = 1.5 \cdot 4 + 3.5 = 6 + 3.5 = 9.5 $$ So, $ y = 9.5 $ represents the total weight of the plate with 4 pancakes, which means: 1. **The total weight will be 9.5 ounces** when there are 4 pancakes on the plate. Thus, the statement "The total weight will be 9.5 ounces when 4 pancakes are on the plate." is correct. The statement "There are 9.5 pancakes on the plate." is incorrect because $ y $ refers to the weight, not the number of pancakes.