Andy is scuba diving. He starts at sea level and then descends 10.5 feet in two and one half minutes. What was Andy's average change in elevation in feet per minute?

Answer 1

To find Andy's average change in elevation in feet per minute, we can use the following formula:

\[ \text{Average Change in Elevation} = \frac{\text{Total Change in Elevation}}{\text{Total Time}} \]

Andy descends a total of 10.5 feet, and the time taken is two and a half minutes, which is equal to \(2.5\) minutes.

Now we plug in the values into the formula:

\[ \text{Average Change in Elevation} = \frac{-10.5 \text{ feet}}{2.5 \text{ minutes}} \]

Calculating the average change:

\[ \text{Average Change in Elevation} = -4.2 \text{ feet per minute} \]

Thus, Andy's average change in elevation is \(-4.2\) feet per minute. The negative sign indicates that he is descending.