we A baby giraffe weighed 132 pounds at birth . He gained weight at a steady rate for the first 7 months until his weight reached-538 pounds. How many pounds did the giraffe gain each m onth?

## Step 1The problem involves a linear relationship between the weight of the giraffe and the time. The giraffe's weight at birth is 132 pounds and after 7 months, it reaches 538 pounds. We are asked to find the rate of weight gain per month.## Step 2We can use the formula for the slope of a line, which is given by:### where is the slope (rate of change), and are the x-coordinates of two points on the line, and and are the corresponding y-coordinates.## Step 3In this case, the x-coordinate is the time in months, and the y-coordinate is the weight of the giraffe. We have two points: (0, 132) and (7, 538). Substituting these values into the formula, we get:### ## Step 4Calculating the above expression, we find that the giraffe gains 68 pounds each month.