Question

Solve the following word problem:a fish is swiming at -10.8 meters or 10.8 below sea level . every 2 minutes it desends another 1.5 meters . how long long will take for the fish to reach the depth of -37.8 meters. show ur work and write a sentence to explai what ur anser means ( write like a 5th grader)

Answer 1

Let's break the problem down step by step:

1. **Starting Depth:** The fish is currently at -10.8 meters.

2. **Target Depth:** We need to find out how long it will take for the fish to reach -37.8 meters.

3. **Depth Change:** Each time the fish swims for 2 minutes, it descends another 1.5 meters.

4. **Finding the Total Descent Needed:**
To find out how much deeper the fish needs to go, we subtract the starting depth from the target depth:

- Target Depth: -37.8 meters
- Starting Depth: -10.8 meters

\[
\text{Depth to descend} = -37.8 - (-10.8) = -37.8 + 10.8 = -27.0 \text{ meters}
\]

So the fish needs to descend 27.0 meters to reach -37.8 meters.

5. **Finding Out How Many 2-Minute Intervals Are Needed:**
Since the fish descends 1.5 meters every 2 minutes, we divide the total depth it needs to descend by the amount it descends in each interval:

\[
\text{Number of intervals} = \frac{27.0 \text{ meters}}{1.5 \text{ meters/interval}} = 18 \text{ intervals}
\]

6. **Calculating the Total Time:**
Now, we know it takes 2 minutes for each interval, so we multiply the number of intervals by the time for each interval:

\[
\text{Total time} = 18 \text{ intervals} \times 2 \text{ minutes/interval} = 36 \text{ minutes}
\]

**Final Answer:** It will take the fish **36 minutes** to reach the depth of -37.8 meters.

**Explanation:** This means that after swimming for 36 minutes, the fish will be much deeper in the water, going all the way down to 37.8 meters below sea level!