A faucet can fill.....

Question

A force it can fill a tank completely with water in 5 1/4 minutes. How many tanks can the faucet fill in 21 minutes? 

Answer 1

Hi Jennifer,

 

We can solve this problem by setting up two ratios that are equal to each, otherwise known as a proportion.

 

Our first ratio is given to us in the problem as:

    1 tank : 5 1/4 min.

 

Our second ratio contains our unknown value (x):

    x tanks : 21 min.

 

Setting these two ratios equal to each other gives us our proportion:

    1 tank : 5 1/4 min. = x tanks : 21 min.

 

We can write our equation and solve for x by setting the cross products of our proportion equal to each other (the cross products of a proportion are equal):

    (1)(21) = (5 1/4)(x)

    5.25x = 21

    x = 21/5.25

    x = 4 (4 tanks can be filled in 21 min.)

 

Proportion problems are all about setting up equivalent ratios and then solving for the one unknown value given the three other known values.

 

Thanks for submitting this problem and glad to help.

 

God bless, Jordan.