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 $-5$

$-5$ represents the amount of money Jessenia spends each week (a decrease of $5$ dollars, so negative).

Step2: Analyze the meaning of $8$

$8$ is the number of weeks.

Step3: Analyze the product $-5\times8$

When we multiply the amount spent per week ($-5$) by the number of weeks ($8$), we get the total change in her money over those 8 weeks. The result $-40$ means her money has decreased by $40$ dollars over the 8 - week period.

• Option A: Each treat costs $5$ dollars, not $40$, so A is wrong.
• Option B: We don't know her initial amount of money, so we can't say she "has" $-40$. The equation represents the change, not her current balance.
• Option D: The number of weeks is $8$ (a positive number), not $-40$. So D is wrong.

Answer:

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