Write a subtraction expression for the vertical distance

Question

A shark is at -80 feet. He swims up and jumps out of the water to a height of 15 feet. Write a subtraction expression for the vertical distance the shark travels.

Answer 1

If the shark's top height is 15 feet, we can use 15 as the base for our expression; the remaining sections of the problem will follow.

Because the shark is starting -80 feet from the surface and we are going from 15 feet above down to the 80 feet below, subtract -80 feet from 15 feet to find your total vertical distance of travel.