Question

A scuba diver is exploring at an elevation of -12.2 meters. As the diver rises to the surface, she plans to stop and rest briefly at a reef that has an elevation of -4.55 meters. Find the vertical distance, x, that the diver will travel.

Answer 1

7.65 meters.

Explanation:

Let x represent the distance that diver will travel.

We have been given that a scuba diver is exploring at an elevation of -12.2 meters. As the diver rises to the surface, she plans to stop and rest briefly at a reef that has an elevation of -4.55 meters. We are asked to find the distance that diver will travel.

The initial elevation plus x will be equal to -4.55 meters. We can represent our given information in an equation as:

`-12.2+x=-4.55`

`-12.2+12.2+x=-4.55+12.2`

`x=7.65`

Therefore, the scuba diver will travel a vertical distance of 7.65 meters.