Question 948867
x=number of seconds; y=altitude; b=starting altitude(time=x=0, so this is also the y-intercept); m=rate of change (slope)
In mathematics, steepness is defined as the absolute value of the slope (m):
{{{steepness=abs(m)}}}
The equation for the altitude at given time x:
y=mx+b
For ascent, m will be positive, for descent m is negative.
For the descent the equation is:
y=-22x+20000 feet so m=-22 and {{{abs(-22)=22}}}
For the ascent the equation is:
For this we will use b for the altitude because it is not essential to know the exact value; we could use the value 150 sec(time of descent in seconds) for x in the descent equation to find the exact value.
y=15x+b so m=15 and {{{abs(15)=15}}}
The "steepness" of the descent is 22 and the "steepness" of the ascent is 15.
Since the greater number is steeper, the descent is more steep than the ascent.
ANSWER: So the correct answer is A because the absolute value of the slope of the line is greater for the descent.