MIGHTY MT. EVEREST

The Earth’s surface is composed of gigantic plates that are constantly moving. Currently, India lies on a plate that is slowly drifting northward. India’s plate is grinding into the rest of Asia. As it does so, it pushes up the Himalayan Mountains, which contain the world’s highest peak, Mt. Everest. In 1999, mountain climbers measured Mt. Everest with satellite gear and found it to be 8850 meters high. Geologists estimate that Mt. Everest may be growing by as much as 5 cm per year.

Your Task: Assuming a constant growth of cm per year, determine how tall Mt. Everest was in the year 0. (The year 0 is the year that came 2000 years before the year 2000.) Write an equation for the height of Mt. Everest over time, with x representing the year and y representing the height of the mountain.

What are the units for m and b in your equation? How many decimal places should be in your answer? Explain why.