Question

Mt. Eglis has an aerial gondola that carries visitors up and down the mountain. At the top of the mountain, the gondola reaches an elevation of 9,100 feet. On the way down, the gondola descends at a rate of 240 feet per minute. You can use a function to describe the elevation of the gondola x minutes after it starts descending.
Is the function linear or exponential? make an equation that best represents the function

Answer 1

The function is linear because the gondola changes elevation by a constant amount each minute.

If x is minutes after it starts descending, elevation E(x) (in feet) is
E(x) = 9100 − 240x, for x ≥ 0 (and while E(x) is at or above the base elevation).

(If you assume sea level/base = 0 ft, it would reach 0 ft at x = 9100/240 ≈ 37.92 minutes.)