Question

The town of Apple Valley, California is at an elevation of 2,900 feet above sea level. Death Valley, California has an elevation of 282 feet below sea level. What is the difference in elevation of the two towns?

Answer 1

The difference in elevation of the two towns is 3182 feet.

Explanation:

Let's treat the elevation of sea level as 0 feet. That way, we can calculate the elevation of the two spots by using it as a measuring parameter.

Apple Valley is 2,900 feet above sea level. Hence, its elevation is (0 + 2,900) feet, which is 2,900 feet.

Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level. Hence, its elevation is (0 - 282) feet, which is -282 feet.

Hence, to calculate the difference, we subtract the elevation of Death Valley from that of Apple Valley, getting [2900 - (-282)] feet, which equals to (2900 + 282) feet which is 3182 feet.

Therefore, the difference in elevation of the two towns is 3182 feet.

Hope this helped!