To find the time it will take for the fish to reach a depth of -37.8 meters, we need to calculate the number of 1.5 meter descents it will take to reach that depth.
First, let's find the difference between the current depth (-10.8 meters) and the target depth (-37.8 meters):
-37.8 - (-10.8) = -37.8 + 10.8 = -27 meters
Next, we divide the difference by the descent rate of 1.5 meters:
-27 / 1.5 = -18
The fish will need to make 18 descents of 1.5 meters to reach a depth of -37.8 meters.
Since the fish descends 1.5 meters every 2 minutes, we can multiply the number of descents by the time taken per descent:
18 x 2 = 36
Thus, it will take 36 minutes for the fish to reach a depth of -37.8 meters.
In sentence form, this answer means that the fish will need to descend 1.5 meters every 2 minutes for a total of 18 times, taking a total of 36 minutes, to reach a depth of -37.8 meters.
Solve the following word problem. A fish is swimming at −10.8
meters, or 10.8 meters below sea level. Every 2 minutes it descends another 1.5 meters. How long will it take for the fish to reach a depth of −37.8
meters? Show your work and write a sentence to explain what your answer mean
2 answers
You can make it a bit easier to calculate by finding the overall distance needed to travel down (-37.8 - (-10.8)) and then dividing that amount by 1.5 meters, which will give the number of 2-minute blocks of time. Then multiply by 2 to find the total number of minutes.