Question

in a small town, 10 residents move to new cities each year for 3 years. the equation below is written to represent the situation: (-10)·3 = -30 which description best explains the meaning of -30 in the equation? a -30 residents leave the town. b there are -30 residents in the town. c the change in the number of residents per year is -30. d the total change in the number of residents in the town due to people moving away is -30.

Explanation:

• Option A: Saying “-30 residents leave” is an incorrect way of expressing. We use the total change concept.
• Option B: The number of residents can't be negative in a real - world context like this.
• Option C: The change per year is - 10 (since 10 leave each year), not - 30.
• Option D: Since 10 residents leave each year for 3 years, the total change (using multiplication \((-10)\times3=-30\)) represents the total number of residents who left over 3 years.

Answer:

D. The total change in the number of residents in the town due to people moving away is \(-30\).