Question

Karl set out to Alaska in his truckThe amount of fuel remaining in the trucks tank (in liters) as a function of distance driven (in KM) is graphedSee graph belowHow fast did the truck consume fuel

Answer 1

In order to find the rate at which truck consumes fuel, calculate the slope of the given graph, by using the following formula:

$m=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$

where (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) are two points on the line.

Based on the given graph, you can select the points:

(x1,y1) = (0,500)

(x2,y2) = (500,200)

By replacing the previous values into the expression for m and simplifying you get:

$m=\frac{200-500}{500-0}=-\frac{300}{500}=-0.6$

The previous result means that the truck consumes its fuel at a rate of 0.6 liters/kilometer