Question

After visiting the Titanic, Captain Brain and Mr. Pinky are taking the Alvin submarine back to the surface of the water. They start 1700 feet under water. After ascending for 6 hours, they are 1580 feet below the surface of the water. (Note: under the water is negative)

Write an equation to model this situation (use d for depth in meters and x for hours).

Answer 1

d = -20x + 1700

Explanation:

First, you need to identify how many meters the submarine travels in an hour. In order to figure this out, you need to know how far they traveled in 6 hours.

In 6 hours, they traveled 1700-1580 meters or 120 meters.

If you divide both values by 6, you'll get that they traveled 20 meters every hour. Now you can write the equation:

depth = 1700 meters - 20 meters (# of hours)

d = 1700 - 20x