Question

An airplane is flying 2000 miles at a planned speed of 600 mph. The flight will have an average headwind (flying directly into the wind) of w mph. The time (T) , in hours, of the flight is a function of the speed of the headwind w, in mph, can be modeled by the function T(w)=2000/600−w. The graph is shown below.

At what value of w does the graph have a vertical asymptote. Explain how you know and what this asymptote means in the context of this situation.

Answer 1

Below

Explanation:

The equation should read t = 2000/ (600-w)

the asymptote will be at w = 600 as this would create a value of zero in the denoiminator.... when the windspeed approaches 600 the time to complete the flight approaches infinity as the windspeed subtracts from the 600 mph plane speed.....then the forward ground speed gets smaler and smaller approaching zero mph.