Question:
Increases in snow levels are recorded with positive numbers. Decreases in snow levels are recorded with negative numbers.
After a winter storm, the depth of the snow on Cherry Street was
10 cm. But then, the snow started melting at a rate of 1/3 cm
per hour.
What was the depth of the snow on Cherry Street after 3
hours?
Answer:
The depth of the snow on Cherry Street after 3 hours is 9 cm
Step-by-step explanation:
Here we have
Initial depth of snow = 10 cm
Rate at which the snow melts = 1/3 cm/hour
Decrease in depth of snow after 3 hours = 3 hour × 1/3 cm/hour = 1 cm
Since decrease in the depth of snow is recorded with negative number, we have;
The decrease in depth of snow after 3 hours = -1 cm
Therefore the depth of the snow after 3 hours is given by;
Depth of snow + change in snow level after 3 hours
= Depth of snow + Decrease in depth of snow after 3 hours (-1)
(Initial depth of snow - Level of snow melted in 3 hours)
= 10 cm - 1 cm = 9 cm
Which gives the depth of snow after 3 hours = 9 cm.