Starting at noon, Lauren observed the amount of snow on her lawn during a blizzard. wrote an equation to represent \( s \), how many inches of snow were on the lawn: \( s=3+0.015 x \), where \( x \) represents the number of minutes past noon. What could number 0.015 represent in the equation?

The equation provided is: \[ s = 3 + 0.015x \] Where: - \( s \) represents the total inches of snow on the lawn. - \( x \) represents the number of minutes past noon. - The number **3** represents the initial snow present at noon. - **0.015** is the coefficient of \( x \). **Interpretation of 0.015:** The term **0.015x** indicates how much additional snow accumulates as time progresses. Specifically, for every minute that passes, **0.015 inches** of snow are added to the lawn. **Therefore, 0.015 represents the rate at which snow is accumulating each minute.** This means that for each minute after noon, the snow on the lawn increases by 0.015 inches. --- **Answer:** It is the rate of snowfall, adding 0.015 inches of snow for each minute that passes.