I'm working on understanding slopes, and when generally dealing with the graphs, I don't have a problem. Now I've come across this word problem, and haven't the first clue on how to begin working this.
Driving down a mountain, Tom finds that he has descended 1800 ft in elevation by the time he is 3.2 mi horizontally away from the top of the mountain. Find the slope of his descent to the nearest hundredth.
2007-01-21 09:19:05 · 2 answers · asked by bill_scott_2004 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Slope is the change in rise divided by the change in run.
3.2 miles = 3.2*5280 = 16896 ft
Slope = 1800 ft / 3.2 miles = 1800 / 16896 = 0.106534
2007-01-21 09:28:34 · answer #1 · answered by Northstar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This problem points out something important. The slope is the change in vertical divided by the change in horizontal. However, when you drive a car you're driving along the hypothenuse. Draw a little sketch and label it. You have a right triangle with 3.2 mi along the base, 1800 ft upwards, the road is along the hypothenuse.
2007-01-21 17:38:54 · answer #2 · answered by modulo_function 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋