Question

Alex is practicing his dives at a pool. He dives from the diving board that is 15 feet above the surface of water. His dive takes him 15 feet below the surface of water. Alex says that the two distances are opposites, so his total dive distance is 15+ -15 equals 0 feet. Are the two distances opposite? Is Alex his total dive distance correct? Explain your reasoning. Show your work. Use models, positive and negative numbers, and words to explain your answer.

Answer 1

Alex is wrong in calculating his dive distance.

Actual distance of his Dive is 30 feet.

Explanation:

Given:

Distance from where he dive from = 15 feet

Distance he reached after dive = 15 feet

Also Given:

Alex says that the two distances are opposites,

Also Total distance of dive according to Alex = 15 +-15 =0 feet

Solution:

Now we know that;

The diving board is 15 feet above the water level, and then he reached 15 deep in the water, but here it is important to know that even he is above the surface of the water he is diving in the water and then he reached 15 deep in the water.

So the two distances are in the same direction.

From above scenario we can say that

Total Distance of dive will be = 15 +15 =30 feet.

Hence We can say that Alex is wrong in calculating his dive distance. Actual Dive distance is 30 feet.