DD gives the day length, in minutes, of the n^{\text{th}}nthn, start superscript, t, h, end

superscript day of the year in Juneau, Alaska.

Four students were asked to interpret the meaning of D'(10)=3D′(10)=3D, prime, left parenthesis,
10, right parenthesis, equals, 3 in this context.

Can you match the teacher's comments to the interpretations?

Interpretation Teacher's comments

 On January 10, the day length is increasing
at a rate of 333minutes per day.
 On January 10, the day is 333 minutes
 Kudos! You are correct.
long.
 On January 10, the day length is increasing  Recall that the derivative is
at a rate of 333days per minute. the instantaneousrate of change.
 Until January 10, the day length is  You didn't use appropriate units.
increasing at a rate of 333 minutes per  Notice that we are talking
day. about D'D′D, prime, not DDD.
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Hint #1

DDD gives the length of a day in \blueD{\text{minutes}}minutesstart color blueD, m, i, n, u, t, e, s,

end color blueD for a given \maroonD{\text{day}}daystart color maroonD, d, a, y, end color
maroonD, so D'D′D, prime gives the rate of change
of DDD in \blueD{\text{minutes}}minutesstart color blueD, m, i, n, u, t, e, s, end color
blueD per \maroonD{\text{day}}daystart color maroonD, d, a, y, end color maroonD.
Specifically, D'(10)D′(10)D, prime, left parenthesis, 10, right parenthesis is the rate at which the day
length changes at t=10t=10t, equals, 10days, which is January 10.

In conclusion, this is a correct interpretation of D'(10)=3D′(10)=3D, prime, left parenthesis, 10, right
parenthesis, equals, 3: On January 10, the day length is increasing at a rate of 333 minutes per day.
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Hint #2

"On January 10, the day length is increasing at a rate of 333 days per minute" is almost correct, but it
uses days per minute instead of minutes per day.

D'(10)D′(10)D, prime, left parenthesis, 10, right parenthesis describes the rate of DDD at a specific
point in time, not in an interval of time. "Until January 10, the day length is increasing at a rate
of 333 minutes per day" is a wrong interpretation because it talks about an interval of time (until
January 10).

"On January 10, the day 333 minutes long" is an interpretation for D(10)=3D(10)=3D, left
parenthesis, 10, right parenthesis, equals, 3, not for D'(10)=3D′(10)=3D, prime, left parenthesis, 10,
right parenthesis, equals, 3.
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Hint #3
 Interpretation Teacher's comments
On January 10, the day length is increasing at a rate
of 333 minutes per day. Kudos! You are correct.

Notice that we are talking about D'D′D,

On January 10, the day 333 minutes long. prime, not DDD.

On January 10, the day length is increasing at a rate

of 333 days per minute. You didn't use appropriate units.

Until January 10, the day length is increasing at a Recall that the derivative is
rate of 333 minutes per day. the instantaneous rate of change.