Question

An airplane 30,000 feet above the ground begins descending at the rate of 2000 feet per minute. Assume the plane continues at the same rate of descent. The plane's height and minutes above the ground are related to each other.

Answer 1

The question involves a linear relationship between the altitude of an airplane descending at a constant rate and time, suitable for an algebra-focused mathematics problem at the high school level.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to the rate of descent of an airplane 30,000 feet above the ground descending at 2,000 feet per minute. This scenario illustrates a linear relationship between the altitude of the airplane and the time in minutes since the descent began. The plane's height above the ground can be described by a simple linear equation, which is a foundation of algebra and directly applicable to solving real-world problems. To help understand this concept, consider the equation of a straight line: height = initial height - (rate of descent × time). For the airplane starting at 30,000 feet, this would be height = 30,000 - (2,000 × time). A student would use this equation to determine the plane's height above ground after a certain number of minutes.