Recently, Kalani and Lynette took a trip from Vacaville, California to Los Angeles. The graph at right represents their trip. Homework Help ✎

1. Explain what each line segment in the graph represents.

   Hint (a):

   Are they traveling at the same speed all throughout the trip?

   Answer (a):

   A portion of the trip at a specific speed.

2. About how many miles is it from Vacaville to Los Angeles? How do you know?

   Hint (b):

   Which axis represents miles?

   Answer (b):

   About 400 miles.

3. Using the graph shown above, sketch a graph that would represent their speed while traveling. Take your time to think this through carefully and be sure to label the axes.

   Hint (c):

   To find the speed for a portion of the trip, divide the number of miles traveled in that portion by the number of hours it took to travel that portion.

   Answer (c):

   Graph shown below - a speed of approximately 30 mph for 1 hour, approximately 80 mph for the next 3 hours, 0 mph for 2 hours, approximately 40 mph for 2 hours, and then approximately 20 mph for the last 2 hours; note that the step graph assumes instantaneous change of speed, which is not technically possible.