A deep-sea diver must descend and ascend in short steps to equalize pressure on her body. If the diver rises
toward the surface too quickly, she may suffer from a physical condition called "the bends." Suppose the
diver descends to the bottom in three steps of 12 feet each. Write and simplify an expression to describe the
diver's change in elevation.
3(-12) = -36
Olympic divers propel off of a platform that is 10 meters high.The graph shows the path of the diver from the platform.
To describe the diver's change in elevation, we need to calculate the total change in elevation.
The diver descends in three steps of 12 feet each. Therefore, the total change in elevation is:
12 feet + 12 feet + 12 feet
Simplifying the expression:
12 + 12 + 12 = 36 feet
So, the diver's change in elevation is 36 feet.
To write an expression to describe the diver's change in elevation, we can use the concept of elevation as a positive or negative value depending on whether the diver is descending or ascending.
Let's assume that the diver starts at sea level, so the initial elevation is 0 feet.
The diver descends in three steps of 12 feet each, so the change in elevation for each step would be -12 feet since the diver is going down.
Therefore, to find the total change in elevation, we need to sum up the changes in elevation for each step.
The expression to describe the diver's change in elevation can be simplified as follows:
-12ft + (-12ft) + (-12ft)
To simplify further, we can combine the similar terms:
-36ft
So, the expression to describe the diver's change in elevation is -36 feet.