Question

a parasailor is attached by a cable to a boat and towed so that the parachute she is wearing catches air and raises her into the air. When the boat slows down to turn back toward the beach, the parasailor's chute catches less air and dips 25 meters. She might descend another 45 meters to return to the boat. Write and solve a subtraction equation to find her original height above the boat before the turn.

Answer 1

70 meters

Explanation:

The subtraction equation will relate the original height and the drops in height to the final height.

Let h represent the original height in meters. After dropping 25 meters, the parasailor is at height (h-25). Then, when she drops another 45 meters, her height is 0 meters above the boat:

(h -25) -45 = 0 . . . . . equation to find original height

h = 70 . . . . . . . . . . add 70 to both sides of the equation

Her original height is 70 meters above the boat.