# Problem of the Week Problem B and Solution Up and Down

## Problem

Sea level is the level of the sea’s surface along a coast of land; it is often taken as the midpoint between average low and high tide levels. The elevation of a location is measured as its vertical distance above or below sea level.

1. The table shows some geographical locations as well as their elevation. List the locations in order from highest elevation to lowest elevation.

Location Elevation
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA $$2\,$$m above sea level
Mount Fuji, Japan $$3776\,$$m above sea level
Caspian Sea, Eastern Europe $$28\,$$m below sea level
Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California, USA $$86\,$$m below sea level
Laguna del Carbón, Argentina (lowest point in the Americas) $$105\,$$m below sea level
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania $$5895\,$$m above sea level
Veryovkina Cave entrance, Abkhazia (deepest known cave) $$2285\,$$m above sea level
Ryfast Tunnel, Norway $$292\,$$m below sea level
Lake Assal, Djibouti $$155\,$$m below sea level
The Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps $$4478\,$$m above sea level
2. The highest point on Earth is Mount Everest, which is approximately $$8849$$ m above sea level. The lowest land point on Earth is the Dead Sea, which is $$431$$ m below sea level. The nearby Sea of Galilee is $$214$$ m below sea level.

In the number lines below, we have written elevations above sea level as positive numbers $$(+)$$ and elevations below sea level as negative numbers $$(-)$$. Place the locations from the table in their approximate positions on the number lines.

1. The locations are listed below in order from highest elevation to lowest elevation. Elevations above sea level are written as positive numbers $$(+)$$ and elevations below sea level are written as negative numbers $$(-)$$.
Mount Kilimanjaro ($$+5895$$ m), The Matterhorn ($$+4478$$ m), Mount Fuji ($$+3776$$ m), Veryovkina Cave ($$+2285$$ m), New Orleans ($$+2$$ m), Caspian Sea ($$-28$$ m), Badwater Basin ($$-86$$ m), Laguna del Carbón ($$-105$$ m), Lake Assal ($$-155$$ m), Ryfast Tunnel ($$-292$$ m)