Can someone help me find the rate of change for this situation?

Question

Five seconds after jumping out of the plane,a sky diver is 10,000 ft above the ground. After 30 seconds, the sky diver is 3,750 ft above the ground.

Find the rate of change.

Answer 1

The amount of change is 10,000 - 3750 = 6,250 ft

The rate of change is the amount of change divided by the amount of time:

6250/30=208.33333 ft/second

You may need to express this as -208.3333333 ft/second, since the sky diver is falling down and the negative indicates the direction is downward.

_/

Answer 2

The rate of change of position (velocity), or the rate of change of velocity (acceleration)?

average velocity = difference in position / difference in time = 6250/30 = 208.3... ft/s

For acceleration, use:

distance = initial velocity * time + .5 acceleration * time^2

and solve for acceleration algebraically.

Initial velocity = 0

time = 30s

distance  = 6250ft