This is a proportion question how do you solve it?

Question

You've found that taking the Tri-Delta Transit bus to LMC from the nearest bus stop takes around 40 minutes about 7 miles. If you want to take the Tri-Delta transit bus to to shopping center that is 10 miles away how long is the bus ride

 

 

 

 

Please show the mathematical breakdown on how to solve this problem.

Answer 1

Proportions are usually solved by cross multiplying after setting up a simple equation.

 

You need to set two fractions equal to each other (in this case these fractions represent the rate of the bus).  

 

Make sure when you set up any proportion the like terms go in the same place for each fraction.  For example, in this problem we have 2 times (40 minutes and the answer we're looking for) and 2 distances (7 miles and 10 miles).  When we set up the proportion we can either time/miles = time/miles  or miles/time = miles/time.  It doesn't matter which way you set it up, just be consistent!

 

so for this problem we could have 40/7 = x/10.  Then we want to cross multiply (do you know what this means?) to get the equation 400 = 7x.  Dividing both sides by by 7 should get you an answer (either left as a fraction or turned into a decimal is up to your teacher).