Question

An elevator travels down from the top floor of a skyscraper. Its height, in feet, is given by the equation h, equals, 1450, minus, 11, th=1450−11t, where hh represents the elevator's height, in feet, and tt represents the time, in seconds. What could the number 11 represent in the equation?

1How quickly the elevator descends, in feet per second.

2The elevator's final height.

3How long it takes for the elevator to reach the ground floor.

4The elevator's height after one second.

Answer 1

1. How quickly the elevator descends, in feet per second.

Explanation:

The sentence "h, equals, 1450, minus, 11, th=1450−11t, where hh represents the elevator's height, in feet, and tt represents the time" seems confused.

Lets assume it was meant to read "h(t) equals 1450 minus 11t. where h(t) represents the elevator's height, in feet, and t represents the time, in seconds."

h(t) = 1450 - 11*t

The number 11 in the -11*t term represents the speed of the elevator, in feet/sec. Since the number has a minus sign, it means that the height is decreasing with time. E.g., after 2 seconds, (-11 feet/sec)*(2 sec) = -22 feet. The elevator has descended 22 feet in 2 seconds.