Question

Marco planted a tree that was 54 inches tall several years ago. The tree has grown at a rate of approximately 1.5 inches per year. Marco uses this equation to calculate the tree’s height,
.


What does the
represent in this equation?

A.
The
represents the tree’s growth each year.

B.
The
represents the height of the tree today.

C.
The
represents the number of years since the tree was planted.

D.
The
represents the starting height of the tree.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To determine what the variable in Marco's equation represents, we can analyze the context of the situation:

1. Marco planted the tree several years ago with an initial height of **54 inches**.
2. The tree grows at a rate of **1.5 inches per year**.

In an equation to represent the height of the tree over time, we can generally express it as:

\[ \text{Height} = \text{initial height} + (\text{growth rate} \times \text{number of years}) \]

In this setup:
- The initial height (54 inches) is a constant that represents how tall the tree was when it was first planted.
- The growth rate (1.5 inches per year) would multiply by the number of years to determine how much the tree has grown since being planted.
- The variable representing the number of years since the tree was planted is essential to calculate the total height.

From the options provided:

A. The variable represents the tree’s growth each year. (This is incorrect if referring specifically to the number of years.)
B. The variable represents the height of the tree today. (This is incorrect; it's the result from the equation.)
C. The variable represents the number of years since the tree was planted. (This is likely the correct interpretation for the variable.)
D. The variable represents the starting height of the tree. (This is incorrect; starting height is a constant).

Based on this analysis, the answer is:

**C. The variable represents the number of years since the tree was planted.**