The equation gives the distance , in feet, from a reference point on the surface of Mars to a Mars rover, where is the number of minutes after the start of a period of observation. By how many feet does the Mars rover's distance from the reference point increase over a period of 20 minutes?
Explanation
The given linear function is:
The slope (coefficient of ) represents the rate of change of distance with respect to time, which is feet per minute.
Over minutes, the increase in distance is:
Thus, the Mars rover’s distance increases by 120 feet over 20 minutes.