Students observing a caterpillar crawl on a tree noticed that the caterpillar crawled upwards 38 of an inch every minute. The ca
terpillar was already 4.5 feet off the ground when the students began observing. Which function represents the total number of inches the caterpillar crawls after x minutes?
We want to propose an equation that models the distance traveled by the caterpillar as a function of time, we have a constant initial quantity of 4.5 feet and then we know that every minute the caterpillar advances 3/8 of an inch
Then the distance that the caterpillar to advanced after x minutes is:
Then we know that initially the caterpillar was at a distance of 4.5 feet or 54 inch
so you would divide 240 in half and get 120 and then you would multiply 120 and 360 because the Ferris wheel is a circle and then you would divide by 12 because there is 12 inches in a foot and get your final answer 3,600 feet