Question

Parasail is 1/20 of a kilometer above the water. Now it’s at 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 parasail altitudes, we first need to convert both heights to a common fraction of a kilometer.

1. The initial height of the parasail is \( \frac{1}{20} \) of a kilometer.
2. The new height is \( \frac{1}{50} \) of a kilometer.

To find the difference, we subtract the two fractions:

\[
\frac{1}{20} - \frac{1}{50}
\]

To perform this subtraction, we need a common denominator. The least common multiple of 20 and 50 is 100.

Now, we convert each fraction:

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

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

Now we can subtract:

\[
\frac{5}{100} - \frac{2}{100} = \frac{3}{100}
\]

Thus, the difference in height between the two parasail altitudes is \( \frac{3}{100} \) of a kilometer, which is equivalent to 0.03 kilometers or 30 meters.