SOLUTION: 1. Technology. Driving down a mountain, Tom finds that he has descended 1800 ft in elevation by the time he is 3.25 mi horizontally away from the top of the mountain. Find the sl

Algebra ->  Linear-equations -> SOLUTION: 1. Technology. Driving down a mountain, Tom finds that he has descended 1800 ft in elevation by the time he is 3.25 mi horizontally away from the top of the mountain. Find the sl      Log On


   

Question 120638: 1. Technology. Driving down a mountain, Tom finds that he has descended 1800 ft
in elevation by the time he is 3.25 mi horizontally away from the top of the
mountain. Find the slope of his descent to the nearest hundredth.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
#1

First convert 3.25 mi into feet
3.25%2A%285280_feet%2F1_mile%29=17160_feet

So 3.25 miles is equivalent to 17,160 feet

Lets draw a picture to see whats going on:


Remember, the slope is the "rise" (which is the height) over the "run" (which is the base)
So the slope is

Slope=rise%2Frun=height%2Fbase=-1800%2F17160 note: since we are descending the rise is negative. So the "rise" is really a descent

Now reduce the fraction -1800%2F17160 to -15%2F143

So the slope is

-15%2F143

Now if you want it in decimal form, simply divide 15 by 143 like this

-15%2F143=-0.1048951048951

which to the nearest hundredth is

-0.10

So the slope of his descent is roughly -0.10