Question

To paddle from the marina to the beach, Ella needs to paddle 6 miles against a 2 mile per hour current in a river. To model this, she writes the expression 6/s - 2. What does this expression represent?

(a) The total amount of miles that Ella will paddle.
(b) The average speed that Ella will travel at.
(c) The travel speed if there was no current.
(d) The amount of time that the trip will take.

Answer 1

The expression 6/s - 2 represents the travel speed if there was no current. In this expression, 6 represents the distance Ella needs to paddle to reach the beach, s represents the speed at which Ella would be traveling without the current, and 2 represents the speed of the current.

Step-by-step explanation:

The expression 6/s - 2 represents the travel speed if there was no current. In this expression, 6 represents the distance Ella needs to paddle to reach the beach, s represents the speed at which Ella would be traveling without the current, and 2 represents the speed of the current. When Ella paddles at a speed equal to the current, the net velocity is zero and she would effectively be standing still. Therefore, to counteract the current and maintain a stationary position, Ella would need to paddle at a speed equal to the current, which is 2 mph. Hence, the expression 6/s - 2 represents the travel speed if there was no current.