Question

A hot air balloon went from an elevation of 5,515 feet to an elevation of 3,247 feet in 56 minutes. What was its rate of descent?

Answer 1

Since you are given the two heights, you find the distance between the heights, which is the distance the hot air balloon traveled and divide it by the time it took.

Let's to that:

`r = (5515-3247)/(56)`

Simplify:

`r = (2268)/(56)`

`r = 40.5`

So, your answer will be: The rate of descent of the hot air balloon is 40.5 feet/sec. It's constant, so we are thankful. If it weren't constant, we would have to use calculus.