Airline travel The following figure shows the ​​position function of an airliner on an out-and-back trip from Seattle to Minneapolis, where s = f(t) is the number of ground miles from Seattle t hours after take-off at 6:00 A.M. The plane returns to Seattle 8.5 hours later at 2:30 P.M. <IMAGE>
a. Calculate the average velocity of the airliner during the first 1.5 hours of the trip (0 ≤ t ≤ 1.5).

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the position function s = f(t) that describes the distance of the airliner from Seattle at time t.
2. Evaluate the position function at the starting time t = 0 and at t = 1.5 to find the distances at these two points: f(0) and f(1.5).
3. Use the formula for average velocity, which is given by the change in position divided by the change in time: average velocity = (f(1.5) - f(0)) / (1.5 - 0).
4. Substitute the values of f(1.5) and f(0) into the average velocity formula to compute the average velocity.
5. Interpret the result in the context of the problem, considering what the average velocity indicates about the airliner's travel during the first 1.5 hours.