Question

bowl of soup is heated to 50 degrees above room temperature. The soup drop about 5 degrees every minute. About how much time will it take for the temperature of the soup to return to room temperature?

Answer 1

Answer: it will take 10 minutes to get back to room temperature.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let us assume that the room temperature is 25 degrees. The current temperature of the soup before the decrease would be 25 + 50 = 75 degrees.

The soup drop about 5 degrees every minute. This is a linear rate. The rate at which the temperature is decreasing is in arithmetic progression. The formula for determining the nth term of an arithmetic sequence is expressed as

Tn = a + (n - 1)d

Where

a represents the first term of the sequence.

d represents the common difference.

n represents the number of terms in the sequence.

From the information given,

a = 75 degrees

d = - 5 degrees (it is decreasing)

n = t

We want to determine how long it will take to get back to 25 degrees, . Therefore,

25 = 75 -5 (t - 1) = 75 - 5t

5t = 75 - 25 = 50

t = 50/5 = 10 minutes