Question

Driving down a mountain, Bob Dean finds that he descends 3300 feet in elevation by the time he is 4.5 miles (horizontally) away from the high point on the mountain road. Find the sic

descent. (1 mile 5280 feet).
The slope is
(Type an integer or decimal rounded to two decimal places as needed.)

Answer 1

`-0.14`

Explanation:

Slope is defined as the change in
`y` divided by the change in
`x`.

The change in
`y` is a decrease of 3,300 feet.

The change in
`x` is an increase of 4.5 miles. Converting to feet so that both measurements are in identical units:

`\frac{4.5\text{ mi}}{1}*\frac{5280\text{ ft}}{1\text{ mi}}=23760\text{ ft}`

Therefore, the slope is:

`\frac{\Delta{y}}{\Delta{x}}=(-3300)/(23760)=-(5)/(36)`

As a decimal rounded to two places:

`-(5)/(36)\approx{-0.14}`