The temperature was 54 at 7:00 a. m. At 3:00 p. m. on the same day, the temperature was 82. What is the rate of change in temperature during this time?

The rate of change was 3.5 degrees / h.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to calculate the rate of change we need to divide the variation of temperature by the variation of time. Since the time is given to us in a 12 h format (am/pm), we first need to convert it to 24 h. To do that we sum the time that is "pm" by 12, we have:

time2 = 3 + 12 = 15

Therefore the rate of change in temperature is:

rate = variation of temp / variation of time

rate = (temp final - temp init) / (time final - time init)

rate = (82 - 54) / (15 - 7) = 28 / 8 = 3.5 degrees / h

The rate of change was 3.5 degrees / h.