Question

A parasail is 1/20 of a meter above the watet. Then after 20 minutes, the parasail is 1/50 of a meter above the water. What is the change in height?

Answer 1

To find the change in height of the parasail, we need to subtract the final height from the initial height.

1. Initial height of the parasail: \( \frac{1}{20} \) meter
2. Final height of the parasail: \( \frac{1}{50} \) meter

Now, we need to perform the subtraction:

\[
\text{Change in height} = \text{Initial height} - \text{Final height} = \frac{1}{20} - \frac{1}{50}
\]

To subtract these fractions, we need a common denominator. The least common multiple of 20 and 50 is 100.

Now we convert both fractions to have the same denominator:

\[
\frac{1}{20} = \frac{5}{100} \quad \text{(since } 1 \times 5 = 5 \text{ and } 20 \times 5 = 100\text{)}
\]

\[
\frac{1}{50} = \frac{2}{100} \quad \text{(since } 1 \times 2 = 2 \text{ and } 50 \times 2 = 100\text{)}
\]

Now we can subtract:

\[
\text{Change in height} = \frac{5}{100} - \frac{2}{100} = \frac{3}{100}
\]

Thus, the change in height of the parasail is \( \frac{3}{100} \) meters, or 0.03 meters.