Question

During a scuba dive, Lainey descended to a point 18 feet below the ocean surface. She continued her descent at a rate of 15 feet per minute. Write an inequality to find the number of minutes she can continue to descend if she does not want to reach a point more than 93 feet below the ocean surface. Use the variable t for time. Do not solve this inequality. Also, rewrite or reverse the inequality in another form.

Answer 1

Lainey's descent can be expressed as the inequality 18 + 15t ≤ 93, where t is the number of minutes. Reversing the inequality gives t ≤ (93 - 18) / 15, representing the time limit for her to safely continue her descent without going beyond 93 feet below the ocean surface.

Step-by-step explanation:

Lainey has already descended 18 feet, and she can descend at a rate of 15 feet per minute t minutes. If she does not want to reach a point more than 93 feet below the ocean surface, we set up an inequality that represents the total distance she can descend without exceeding the 93 feet limit.

The inequality will be: 18 + 15t ≤ 93

Where:

• 18 is the initial depth she has already descended.
• 15t is the additional depth she descends in t minutes.
• The total depth should be less than or equal to 93 feet.

To reverse or rewrite the inequality, we can isolate t on one side:

t ≤ (93 - 18) / 15

This shows that the time t she can continue to descend without exceeding 93 feet is limited by this inequality.