An aquarium tank containing 180 gallons of water is being drained at a rate of 20 gallons per hour. The linear function [tex]w(x) = -20x + 180[/tex] models the amount of water in the tank, where [tex]x[/tex] is the number of hours and [tex]w(x)[/tex] is the total number of gallons in the tank.

What is the domain of the function?

A. [0, 180]
B. [0, 20]
C. [0, 9]
D. [tex](-\infty, \infty)[/tex]



Answer :

To determine the domain of the linear function \( w(x) = -20x + 180 \) that models the amount of water in the aquarium tank over time \( x \), let's analyze the problem step-by-step:

1. Identify the Function and Variables:
- The linear function given is \( w(x) = -20x + 180 \), where:
- \( w(x) \) represents the amount of water in the tank in gallons.
- \( x \) represents the time in hours.

2. Understanding the Problem:
- The tank starts with 180 gallons of water.
- Water is being drained at a rate of 20 gallons per hour.

3. Determine When the Tank is Empty:
- To find the time \( x \) when the tank is empty, we need to solve for \( x \) when \( w(x) = 0 \) (i.e., no water left).
- Set the equation equal to zero:
[tex]\[ -20x + 180 = 0 \][/tex]
- Solve for \( x \):
[tex]\[ -20x = -180 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ x = \frac{180}{20} \][/tex]
[tex]\[ x = 9 \][/tex]
- This means the tank will be empty after 9 hours.

4. Define the Domain:
- The domain represents the valid values of \( x \) within the context of the problem.
- Since \( x \) cannot be negative (time cannot go backward) and the tank only has water up to 9 hours, \( x \) ranges from \( 0 \) to \( 9 \).

Therefore, the domain of the function \( w(x) = -20x + 180 \) is:
[tex]\[ [0, 9] \][/tex]

The correct answer is:
[tex]\[ [0, 9] \][/tex]