solve the following word problem. a fish is swimming at -10.8 meters, or 10.8 meters below sea level. every 2 minutes it descends another 1.5 meters. how long will it for the fish to reach a depth of -37.8 meters? show your work and write a sentence to explain what your answer means.(4 points)

Answer 1

To solve this problem, we can use the formula:

Depth = initial depth + (rate of descent × time)

In this case, the initial depth is -10.8 meters and the rate of descent is 1.5 meters every 2 minutes. We need to find the time it takes for the fish to reach a depth of -37.8 meters.

Let's set up the equation and solve for time:

-37.8 = -10.8 + (1.5 × (time ÷ 2))

First, we can simplify the equation by multiplying 1.5 by 2:

-37.8 = -10.8 + 3 × time

Next, we subtract -10.8 from both sides of the equation to isolate the term with time:

-37.8 - (-10.8) = 3 × time

Simplifying further:

-37.8 + 10.8 = 3 × time

-27 = 3 × time

Now, divide both sides of the equation by 3 to solve for time:

time = -27 ÷ 3

time = -9 minutes

The fish will take 9 minutes to reach a depth of -37.8 meters.

This means that starting from -10.8 meters and descending 1.5 meters every 2 minutes, it will take the fish 9 minutes to reach a depth of -37.8 meters below sea level.