To find the average rate of change of the diver's depth, we can first determine the change in depth and then divide that by the time taken.
- Initial Depth: 15 meters below the surface
- Final Depth: 15 + 10 = 25 meters below the surface (since she descends 10 meters lower)
The change in depth:
\[ \text{Change in depth} = \text{Final Depth} - \text{Initial Depth} = -25 - (-15) = -10 \text{ meters} \]
We take the change in depth as negative because the diver is going deeper below the surface.
- Time taken: 10.1 seconds
Now we calculate the average rate of change of depth:
\[ \text{Average Rate of Change} = \frac{\text{Change in Depth}}{\text{Time}} = \frac{-10 \text{ meters}}{10.1 \text{ seconds}} \approx -0.9901 \text{ meters/second} \]
Rounding to the nearest hundredth, we have:
\[ \text{Average Rate of Change} \approx -0.99 \text{ meters/second} \]
So, the correct interpretation of the quotient is:
The quotient that describes the average rate of change for the diver’s depth is negative 0.99 meters/second.