A pilot is flying an airplane due to strong winds. The pilot decides to fly 4000 feet lower to avoid excessive turbulence. It takes the pilot 3.5 minutes to make this adjustment. Interpret the question to describe the rate of change in plans altitude give your answer to the nearest hundreds and remember the plane is descending
The rate of change in the plane's altitude can be interpreted as the change in altitude per unit of time. In this case, the pilot decides to fly 4000 feet lower, so the change in altitude is -4000 feet (negative since the plane is descending). The adjustment takes 3.5 minutes, therefore the unit of time is minutes.
To find the rate of change in altitude, we divide the change in altitude by the time taken: -4000 feet / 3.5 minutes ≈ -1143 feet per minute.
Therefore, the rate of change in the plane's altitude, to the nearest hundreds, is approximately -1143 feet per minute.
To interpret the question and describe the rate of change in the plane's altitude, we need to determine the decrease in altitude per minute.
Given that the pilot takes 3.5 minutes to descend 4000 feet, we can find the rate of change by dividing the descent in feet by the time taken.
Rate of change in altitude = Descent in feet ÷ Time taken
Rate of change in altitude = 4000 feet ÷ 3.5 minutes
Solving this equation, we find that the rate of change in the plane's altitude is approximately 1143 feet per minute (rounded to the nearest hundreds).