Question

1. ten students are standing in a line in the front of the classroom. the teacher has told them to hold hands with the person on either side of them. when she says \go\, the first person squeezes the hand of the person on their right. as soon as that person feels the squeeze, they squeeze the hand of the person on their right, etc. the graph below represents the time at which each of the first six students squeezes the hand of the person on their right. why is the y-intercept not 0?

Explanation:

The y - intercept represents the time elapsed when the "person in line" is the 1st (x = 0 or x = 1st). The first person needs to initiate the squeeze, and there is a reaction time or a small amount of time (even if very short) between the teacher saying "go" and the first person actually squeezing the hand. So the time elapsed (y - value) at x = 1st (the first person's action) is not zero because the first person takes some time to respond to the teacher's "go" and perform the squeeze, rather than the action happening instantaneously at time 0.

Answer:

The y - intercept is not 0 because there is a reaction time (or a small amount of time) between the teacher saying "go" and the first person squeezing the hand, so the first person's squeeze does not occur at time 0.