14. On a certain day there was a near constant snowfall rate of 0.50 inch per hour. After 4 hours there were 10 inches of snow on the ground (including some from the day before). Write an equation that models the amount of snowfall in inches y and after x hours

Step 1 ：We are given that the snowfall rate is constant at 0.50 inch per hour. This means that for every hour that passes, an additional 0.50 inch of snow falls. This is the slope of our equation, as it represents the change in y (the amount of snowfall) per change in x (the number of hours).

Step 2 ：We are also given that after 4 hours, there were 10 inches of snow on the ground. However, this includes some snow from the day before. The snowfall from the 4 hours of the current day is 4 hours * 0.50 inch/hour = 2 inches. This means that there were 10 inches - 2 inches = 8 inches of snow on the ground from the day before. This is the y-intercept of our equation, as it represents the amount of snowfall at the start (x = 0).

Step 3 ：Therefore, the equation that models the amount of snowfall in inches y after x hours is y = 0.50x + 8.

Step 4 ：The final answer is \(\boxed{y = 0.50x + 8}\).