Mr. Mole's burrow was at an altitude of 6 meters below the ground.
Step-by-step explanation:
Step 1:
We need to determine the distance that Mr. Mole covers in a single minute.
To do that we divide the difference in values of altitude by the difference in the time periods.
For the first case, Mr. Mole had traveled -18 meters in 5 minutes.
We also have, he traveled -25.2 meters in 8 minutes.
Step 2:
The distance he covered in 1 minute [tex]= \frac{-25.2-(-18)}{8-5} = \frac{-25.2+18}{3},[/tex]
[tex]\frac{-25.2+18}{3} = \frac{-7.2}{3} = -2.4.[/tex]
So with every minute, Mr. Mole digs down an additional 2.4 meters below the surface.
To determine where Mr. Mole's burrow is we subtract the distance traveled in 5 minutes from -18.
The altitude of Mr. Mole's burrow [tex]= -18 - 5(-2.4) = -18+12 = -6.[/tex]
So Mr. Mole's burrow was at an altitude of 6 meters below the ground i.e. -6 meters.
