Question

Flight Path: An aircraft is on its approach to an airport.

As it flies over a town, its altitude is 15,000 feet. The
town is about 10 miles from the airport. Approximate
the slope of the linear path followed by the aircraft
during landing.
A. 1,500 feet/mile
B. 10 miles/15,000 feet
C. 15,000 feet/10 miles
D. 1.5 miles/foot

Answer 1

The slope of the aircraft's landing approach is calculated by dividing its descent of 15,000 feet by the 10-mile distance to the airport, resulting in a slope of 1,500 feet per mile. The correct answer is A. 1,500 feet per mile.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking about the slope of the flight path of an aircraft during its landing approach. To calculate the slope, represented as rise over run, we use the altitudes and distances provided. The aircraft descends from an altitude of 15,000 feet to the airport at ground level over a distance of 10 miles. Therefore, the slope can be calculated as the change in altitude (the rise) divided by the distance to the airport (the run).

The rise is 15,000 feet (since it descends from 15,000 feet to 0), and the run is 10 miles. The slope is thus 15,000 feet divided by 10 miles, which simplifies to 1,500 feet per mile. The correct answer is A, which states that the slope is 1,500 feet/mile.