Answer:
The situation CAN be described as a function.
The independent variable is the time t that have passed since you jumped from the plane.
The dependent variable is the distance d you have traveled since you jumped from the plane.
Step-by-step explanation:
A function f is a relation between 2 sets A and B that assigns only one element y of B to each element x (called independent variable) in a certain subset of A (that could be A itself). In this case we write
[tex]f:A\rightarrow B [/tex]
[tex]f(x)=y[/tex]
and we say x is the independent variable and y is the dependent variable.
The key words here are “only one element y of B”.
That means that for example, a relation between integers such that f(1)=2 and f(1)=3 cannot be a function.
The case described in this problem could be described as a function
[tex]\bf {f:\mathbb{R}^+\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^+[/tex]
[tex]f(t)=d}[/tex]
where [tex]\mathbb{R}^+ [/tex] is the set of positive real numbers, t is the time that have passed since you jumped from the plane and d the distance you have traveled since you jumped from the plane.
Since that at a given time you have only traveled one distance, this is actually a function.
In this case, the independent variable is the time t that have passed since you jumped from the plane, and the dependent variable is the distance d you have traveled since you jumped from the plane.
