Question

An airplane is flying at an altitude of 3,000 ft. The pilot dives 988 feet and then rapidly climbs 748 feet. The pilot then dives again 885 feet before making another climb of 1,099 feet. How far above or below an altitude of 3,000 feet is the airplane?

Answer 1

Imagine you were 3,000 ft above sea level. If you are diving 988 ft, then you are subtracting 988 ft from 3,000, which is 2,012 ft. Then you go up 748 ft, which means you add 748 to 2,012, which is 2,760 ft. Then you go down 855 ft so you subtract 855 ft from where you are, which is 2,760 ft. That gives you 1,905. Finally, you go up again 1,099 ft, which comes out to be 3,004 ft. Now that you know where you are, they want to know how far are away are you from the original distance. You are 4 ft above where you started so the answer is 4 ft.