Question

the table below shows the total number of employees of amazon, e, in thousands, at the end of the years 2017 to 2020. let e = f(t) for t in years since the end of 2015.

year	2017	2018	2019	2020

1https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/amzn/amazon/number - of - employees, accessed 4 april, 2021.

(a) does f(t) appear to be positive or negative? explain in terms of the number of amazon employees.

f(t) appears to be

this tells us that

o amazon sales were increasing throughout this four - year period.
o amazon sales were decreasing throughout this four - year period.
o amazon was increasing the size of its workforce throughout this four - year period.
o amazon was decreasing the size of its workforce throughout this four - year period.
o the number of amazon customers was increasing throughout this four - year period.
o the number of amazon customers was decreasing throughout this four - year period.

Explanation:

Step1: Recall derivative meaning

The derivative $f^{\prime}(t)$ represents the rate of change of the function $E = f(t)$. If $f^{\prime}(t)>0$, the function is increasing, and if $f^{\prime}(t)<0$, the function is decreasing.

Step2: Analyze employee - number data

The number of Amazon employees (in thousands) in 2017 is 566, in 2018 is 647.5, in 2019 is 798, and in 2020 is 1298. Since the number of employees is increasing over the years from 2017 - 2020.

Answer:

Positive. Amazon was increasing the size of its workforce throughout this four - year period.