Question

Jerry and Katja are running in a race. Jerry runs really fast for a while. Then, he stops to catch his breath. After he has rested, he runs really fast again until the end of the race. Katja runs slower than Jerry, but runs at the same pace the whole race.



In two or more complete sentences, explain which line on the graph models Jerry and which line models Katja. Include an explanation for the intersection point.

Answer 1

The slope of the lines represent the runners' speeds. Therefore, the purple line represents Jerry, since he started off faster but also stopped in the middle, and the slope became 0 (horizontal portion of the line.)
The red one represents Katja because she started and ended at a constant pace, which is visible in the red line's constant slope.

Answer 2

Line 1 represents Katja, as characterized by the constant slope. On the otherhand, Line 2 represents Jerry, wherein the flat line denotes his resting time. At the intersection of both lines, this is the instance where the speed of Katja and Jerry are both equal.