Ineed to answering a and b the alaskan glaciers are melting at a rate of 24 cubic miles per year. at this rate, how many years will it take for 420 cubic miles of the glacier to melt? a) set up an equation that models this question. b) how many years will it take for 420 cubic miles of the glacier to melt?

That’s a lot of ice! Let’s go ahead and model the situation mathematically.

If every year means 24 cubic miles of ice lost, then we can go ahead and say that, then we can make a function I(t), such that

I(t) = 24t

[This can also be

y = 24x]

Because every year, we’ve lost 24 cubic miles of glacier ice. To find out how many years it takes to lose 420 cubic miles of weed — I mean, ice, we plug in for y (since y is the total amount of ice lost)

y = 24x

420 = 24x

x = 17.5 years