Question

A butterfly is flying 8 3/4 feet above the ground. It descends at a steady rate to a spot 6 1/4 feet above the ground in 1 2/3 minutes. What is the butterfly’s change in elevation each minute?

a) 1 1/2 feet
b) 2 1/3 feet
c) 2 1/2 feet
d) 3 1/4 feet

Answer 1

The butterfly's change in elevation each minute is 1 1/2 feet.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the butterfly's change in elevation each minute, we need to calculate the difference in elevation between the starting and ending points and divide it by the total time it took.

The butterfly descends from 8 3/4 feet to 6 1/4 feet, so the change in elevation is 8 3/4 - 6 1/4 = 2 1/2 feet.

The total time it took is 1 2/3 minutes, which is equal to 5/3 minutes.

To find the change in elevation each minute, we divide the change in elevation by the total time in minutes: 2 1/2 ÷ 5/3 = 2 1/2 x 3/5 = 15/10 = 3/2 feet.

Therefore, the butterfly's change in elevation each minute is 1 1/2 feet.