Question

A miner descended 1200 feet into a mine. While in the mine, he then rose 900 feet and then descended 350 feet. What was the miner's net gain or loss in altitude? A. –1200 ft B. 650 ft C. –650 ft D. 50 ft

Answer 1

We can just add all these numbers together because they are just addition and subtraction.

We assume the miner starts at 0 (the surface).

0 - 1200 (down) + 900 (up) - 350 (down) = -650 (C)