family in car together for a road trip

Rate of change may be represented in various forms. The Williams family is taking a road trip to visit relatives for the holidays. Mrs. Williams drives at an average speed of 60 miles per hour. If Mrs. Williams has been driving for x hours, what is the number of miles, y, that the Williams family has traveled?

Let’s represent this situation using a table, algebraic representation, and a graph.

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Pause and Reflect

In each representation, what similarities do you see in the changes in distance and changes in time?

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Check Your Answer

In the verbal, table, graph, and algebraic representations the change in distance for 1 hour is 60 miles. Close Pop Up