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------------------------------------------------ A commuter flight between two cities in Oregon takes about 40 minutes.

The plane will increase its altitude for the first half of the flight until it gets to 18,000 feet, and then it will descend for the second half of the flight. The plane ascends and descends at a constant rate of 900 feet per minute.

Independent Quantity:

Dependent Quantity:

The independent quantity is time and the dependent quantity is the plane's altitude. For a constant ascent rate of 900 feet per minute, it takes 20 minutes for the plane to reach 18,000 feet.

Explanation:

The student's question involves calculating the rate of change in altitude for a commuter plane flight, which is a mathematics problem in algebra involving rates of change and linear functions.

The independent quantity in this scenario is time since the altitude change depends on the passage of time.

The dependent quantity is the altitude of the plane because it varies depending on the time elapsed.

Since the plane ascends at a constant rate of 900 feet per minute, and the total ascent distance is 18,000 feet, we can use a linear function to model this situation.

To climb to 18,000 feet, it would take 18,000 feet / 900 feet per minute = 20 minutes. Since the ascent is the first half of the flight, and the flight takes 40 minutes in total, this makes intuitive sense.