Question

A parasail is 1/20
of a kilometer above the water. Then, after 10 minutes, the parasail is 1/50
of a kilometer above the water. What is the difference in height?

Answer 1

To find the difference in height between the two positions of the parasail, we can first convert the fractions of kilometers to a common measure.

The height of the parasail at the first position is:

\[
\text{Height}_1 = \frac{1}{20} \text{ km}
\]

The height of the parasail at the second position is:

\[
\text{Height}_2 = \frac{1}{50} \text{ km}
\]

Now, we need to find a common denominator to subtract these two fractions. The least common multiple of 20 and 50 is 100. We can convert each fraction to have this common denominator.

For \(\frac{1}{20}\):

\[
\frac{1}{20} = \frac{5}{100}
\]

For \(\frac{1}{50}\):

\[
\frac{1}{50} = \frac{2}{100}
\]

Now we can subtract the two heights:

\[
\text{Difference in height} = \text{Height}_1 - \text{Height}_2 = \frac{5}{100} - \frac{2}{100} = \frac{3}{100} \text{ km}
\]

Converting \(\frac{3}{100}\) kilometers to meters (since \(1\) km = \(1000\) m):

\[
\frac{3}{100} \text{ km} = \frac{3}{100} \times 1000 \text{ m} = 30 \text{ m}
\]

Therefore, the difference in height is:

\[
\boxed{30 \text{ m}}
\]