Question

1 look back how far does the blue whale swim in 1 minute? how did you get your answer?
2 look ahead this table and graph represent the speed of a different blue whale over a period of 5 minutes.
a. what is the unit rate for this proportional relationship? what does the unit rate mean in this situation?

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate the unit rate

The unit rate \(r\) for a proportional relationship \(y = rx\) (where \(y\) is distance and \(x\) is time) can be found using the formula \(r=\frac{y}{x}\).
Take a pair of values from the table, say \(x = 1\) min and \(y=0.4\) mi. Then \(r=\frac{0.4}{1}=0.4\) mi/min.
We can also check with another pair: for \(x = 2\) min and \(y = 0.8\) mi, \(r=\frac{0.8}{2}=0.4\) mi/min.

Step2: Interpret the unit rate

The unit rate \(r = 0.4\) mi/min means that for every 1 - minute interval of time, the blue - whale swims a distance of \(0.4\) miles.

Answer:

The unit rate is \(0.4\) miles per minute. It means that the blue whale swims \(0.4\) miles in one minute.