I dont understand the question.

Question

A submarine is at a depth of –180 feet. Later the submarine is at a depth of –286 feet. Write an inequality to compare the two depths of the submarine, and tell whether the submarine ascended or descended.

Answer 1

Ohhhh, these used to confuse me, too! Let's see what we can figure out.

So, if we start at -180 feet and we go to -286 feet, aren't we deeper in the water? If the water is 500 feet deep, then the bottom is -500, even deeper.

So, since -286 is deeper than -180, -286 < -180, right? This means we descended.

Hope this helps!