A pilot is flying an airplane. Due to strong winds, the pilot decides to fly 4,000 feet lower to avoid excessive turbulence. It takes the pilot 3.5 minutes to make this adjustment. Interpret the quotient to describe the rate of change in the plane’s altitude. Give your answer to the nearest hundredth, and remember the plane is descending.
Show your work.
The rate of change in the plane's altitude can be calculated by dividing the change in altitude (4,000 feet) by the time taken (3.5 minutes).
Rate of change in altitude = (change in altitude) / (time taken)
Rate of change in altitude = 4000 ft / 3.5 min
Dividing 4000 by 3.5 gives 1142.8571428571427.
Therefore, the rate of change in the plane's altitude is approximately 1142.86 feet per minute.
is that rounded to the nearest hundredth?
Sorry for the mistake. The correct rounding to the nearest hundredth would be 1142.86 feet per minute.
To find the rate of change in the plane's altitude, we need to calculate the change in altitude per minute.
The plane descends 4,000 feet in 3.5 minutes.
To find the change in altitude per minute, we divide the change in altitude by the time taken:
Change in altitude = 4,000 feet
Time taken = 3.5 minutes
Change in altitude per minute = 4,000 feet / 3.5 minutes
Calculating this expression, we find:
Change in altitude per minute ≈ 1,142.86 feet/minute
Therefore, the rate of change in the plane's altitude is approximately 1,142.86 feet per minute (descending).