Wilson began watering his garden with a watering can that was completely full. The amount of water in the can as Wilson was watering can be represented by a linear function and is shown in the graph below. Which statement is correct?

A graph titled Amount of Water in Wilson's Watering Can has time (seconds) on the x-axis and amount of water (gallons) on the y-axis. A line goes through points (0, 2.5), (1, 2.3), (2, 2.1), (3, 1.9), and (4, 1.7).
The amount of water originally in Wilson’s can was 0 gallons.
The amount of water originally in Wilson’s can was 2.5 gallons.
Wilson is watering his garden at a rate of 0 gallons per second.
Wilson is watering his garden at a rate of 2.5 gallons per second.

1 answer

To analyze the situation based on the provided information about Wilson's watering can, let's go through the points on the graph and interpret them.

The points given are:

  • (0, 2.5)
  • (1, 2.3)
  • (2, 2.1)
  • (3, 1.9)
  • (4, 1.7)

From point (0, 2.5), we can see that at time 0 seconds, the amount of water in the can was 2.5 gallons. This indicates that the original amount of water in Wilson's can was 2.5 gallons.

Next, to determine the rate at which water is being used, we can observe the changes over time:

  • From 0 to 1 second, the water level decreases from 2.5 to 2.3 gallons, which is a decrease of 0.2 gallons.
  • From 1 to 2 seconds, it decreases from 2.3 to 2.1 gallons (decrease of 0.2 gallons).
  • From 2 to 3 seconds, it decreases from 2.1 to 1.9 gallons (decrease of 0.2 gallons).
  • From 3 to 4 seconds, it decreases from 1.9 to 1.7 gallons (decrease of 0.2 gallons).

Thus, Wilson is using water at a consistent rate of \(0.2\) gallons per second.

Now, evaluating each of the provided statements:

  1. The amount of water originally in Wilson’s can was 0 gallons. - Incorrect, as it began with 2.5 gallons.
  2. The amount of water originally in Wilson’s can was 2.5 gallons. - Correct.
  3. Wilson is watering his garden at a rate of 0 gallons per second. - Incorrect, as he is using water.
  4. Wilson is watering his garden at a rate of 2.5 gallons per second. - Incorrect, as he is using water at a rate of 0.2 gallons per second.

Therefore, the correct statement is: The amount of water originally in Wilson’s can was 2.5 gallons.