Question

A gold mine has two​ elevators, one for equipment and another for the miners. The equipment elevator descends 6 feet per second. The elevator for the miners descends 16 feet per second. One​ day, the equipment elevator begins to descend. After 28 ​seconds, the elevator for the miners begins to descend. What is the position of each elevator relative to the surface after another 14 ​seconds? At that​ time, which elevator is​ deeper?

Answer 1

• equipment: -252 feet; miners: -224 feet
• equipment is deeper

Explanation:

The attached graph shows the depth of the elevators with respect to the time the miners' elevator started.

After 14 more seconds, the positions are ...

equipment: -6(42) = -252 feet relative to the surface

miners: -16(14) = -224 feet relative to the surface

The equipment elevator is deeper.