Question

A hot air balloon is cruising at an altitude of 120 meters above the ground when it begins its descent. The balloon descends at a rate of 4.5 meters per minute. Explain how you would set up an equation to model when the balloon will reach an altitude of 75 meters above the ground. Then solve the equation and check your solution.

PLEASE HELP ASAP

Answer 1

y = - 4.5x + 120

75 = - 4.5x + 120

x = 10 minutes

Explanation:

To model the scenario described above, we use the linear equation model ;

Where ;

y = bx + c ; c = intercept ; b = slope ; y = altitude at time x

The initial altitude of the hot air Ballon here is the intercept = 120 meters

The descent rate = 4.5 m per minute is the slope ; since it is descent, then the slope will be negative as the altitude will reduce.

Hence, we have ;

y = - 4.5x + 120

Hence, the time altitude will be 75 cabnbe modeled as :

y = 75

75 = - 4.5x + 120

75 - 120 = - 4.5x

- 45 = - 4.5x

x = 10 minutes