document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=1118219>Question 1118219</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> West of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Route 40 eastbound is straight and makes a steep descent towards the city, The highway has a 6% grade which means that its slope is -6/100. Driving on this road you notice from elevation signs that you have descended a distance of 100 ft. What is the change in our horizontal distance? </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #733482 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Boreal><B>Boreal(15235)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Boreal><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=Boreal><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=733482\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> I was mistaken in that I thought the highway's percentage grade was elevation change divided by highway distance.  It is the tangent, elevation change/ horizontal distance.  But percentage is just percentage and not degrees.  The road drops 6 feet for every 100 horizontal.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "this is 6/100=100/x<BR>\n" );
document.write( "6x=10000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x=1666.67 feet. horizontal distance ANSWER<BR>\n" );
document.write( "The tangent is 0.06<BR>\n" );
document.write( "This is 3.43 degrees.<BR>\n" );
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