SOLUTION: An airplane covered 15 miles of its route while decreasing its altitude by 20,000 feet. Find the slope of the airplane's line of descent. Round to the nearest hundredth. [Hint:

Algebra ->  Coordinate Systems and Linear Equations  -> Linear Equations and Systems Word Problems -> SOLUTION: An airplane covered 15 miles of its route while decreasing its altitude by 20,000 feet. Find the slope of the airplane's line of descent. Round to the nearest hundredth. [Hint:       Log On


   

Question 98167: An airplane covered 15 miles of its route while decreasing its altitude by 20,000 feet. Find the slope of the airplane's line of descent. Round to the nearest hundredth. [Hint: 1 mi = 5280 feet.]
Answer by edjones(8007) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
20,000/5280=3.79 mi
I drew a diagram on graph paper.
I had the plane at x=0 y=3.79 at the start of decent and at x=-15 y=0 at the end.
this gives us 2 points. (0,3.79) and (-15,0)
slope= change in y/change in x=(3.79-0)/0-(-15)=3.79/15=.253
Ed
graph%28500%2C500%2C-20%2C20%2C-20%2C20%2C.253x%2B3.795%29