Question

Mrs. Patrick is putting a tile backsplash on the wall behind her stove. The function f(x) gives how many boxes of tiles she would need if she used square tiles that are x inches per side.
What does f(4) < f(2) tell you?
If Mrs. Patrick used 4-inch tiles, she would need fewer than 2 boxes of tiles.
Mrs. Patrick would need fewer boxes of tiles if she used 4-inch tiles than if she used 2-inch tiles.

Answer 1

The second statement is correct.

Reason: f(4) is the number of boxes needed with 4‑inch tiles and f(2) is the number needed with 2‑inch tiles. f(4) < f(2) means the 4‑inch tiles require fewer boxes than the 2‑inch tiles. The first statement is wrong because f(2) is not the number 2 — it’s the number of boxes for 2‑inch tiles.