Water Pumps
Standards Assessed: 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.5
Name ________________________
Algebra 2
Directions: Sarah is in charge of getting water from a river pump station to three
substations. To find the distance of the pipelines she placed a grid over a map using a
scale of one unit equals one mile. She placed the origin at the river pump station since it
is the source for all the water.
The locations of the substations on her map were:
-Substation A (-8,-1)
-Substation B (-4,6)
-Substation C (2,5)
Would it be shorter to connect the substations individually to the river pump station or to
connect them in this order: river pump station-substation A-substation B-substation C.
Make sure you include an explanation with necessary computations, sketches, formulas,
and notes.
A pump is only efficient up to six miles. If the pipeline is over six miles a relay pump
must be installed. If Sarah is going to use the shorter of the two routes, where should she
put the relay pumps if she wants them placed half way between substations that are over
six miles apart?