A small airplane at an altitude of 5000 feet is flying East at 300 feet per second, and you are watching it with a small telescope as it passes directly overhead. Refer to the figure above.
a. What is the slope of the telescope 5, 10, and 20 seconds after the plane passes overhead?
b. What is the slope of the telescope t seconds after the plane passes overhead?
c. After it passes overhead, is the slope of the telescope increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?
The solution for the first requirement from question a is provided as follows:
at 5 sec.:
speed = 300 ft/sec
distance = speed * time
= (300 ft/sec)
= 1,500 ft
slope = vertical distance/horizontal distance
Round off your answers to two decimal places.
(Answer should be in this format:)
a. at 10 sec, slope = _____at 20 sec, slope = 0._____
b. slope at t seconds = _____/t
c. _____