Joe bought an apple tree that was 48 inches in height. He noticed that this tree grew approximately 4 inches in height each year.

Which statement best describes the function that could be used to model the height of the apple tree, h(t), as a function of time, t, in years.

~The height of the apple tree can be represented by a linear function, and the variable t is an exponent in the equation representing the function.

~The height of the apple tree can be represented by an exponential function, and the variable t is multiplied by 4 in the equation representing the function.

~The height of the apple tree can be represented by a linear function, and the variable t is multiplied by 4 in the equation representing the function.

~The height of the apple tree can be represented by an exponential function, and the variable t is an exponent in the equation representing the function.