Question

After traveling for 4 hours and 1800 miles, an airplane begins a steady descent. When it beginsdescending, its altitude (height) is 33,000 feet. After 8 minutes, it is at 17,000 feet.

Answer 1

2. When it begins descending, the airplane's altitude (height) is 33,000 feet. Then, the starting value for its altitude would be 33,000

3. y = mx + b

where m is the slope,b the y-intercept, x represents time (in minutes), and y represents altitude (in feet).

In the context of this problem, the starting value for the airplane's altitude is the y-intercept.

The slope is found finding the ratio between altitude lost and time. Given that after 8 minutes, the airplane lost 33,000 - 17,000 = 16,000 feet, the slope is:

16,000/8 = 2,000 ft/min. Then the equation is:

y = 2000x + 33000

4. The information "After traveling for 4 hours and 1800 miles, an airplane begins a steady descent" is not relevant