Question

jessenia spends $5 on a treat every friday for 8 weeks. the equation below is written to represent the scenario.
-5 × 8 = -40
which description best explains the meaning of -40 in the equation?
a each treat cost $40.
b jessenia now has -$40.
c the change in jessenias money over the 8 weeks is -40.
d the number of weeks that jessenia spent money was -40.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the meaning of each part in the equation

The $-5$ represents the amount of money Jessenia spends each week (a decrease, so negative). The $8$ represents the number of weeks. When we multiply $-5\times8$, we are calculating the total change in her money over 8 weeks.

Step2: Analyze each option

• Option A: Each treat is $5$, not $40$, so A is wrong.
• Option B: We don't know her initial amount of money, so we can't say she "now has $-40$", B is wrong.
• Option C: Since she spends $5$ each week for 8 weeks, the total change (a decrease) in her money is $-5\times8=-40$, C is correct.
• Option D: The number of weeks is $8$ (a positive number), not $-40$, D is wrong.

Answer:

C. The change in Jessenia's money over the 8 weeks is $- 40$.