Use letter symbols to represent unknown numbers in each equation.

Question

4. There are 15 rafts available for people to use on the Adventure River Ride. Each raft holds 12 people. The park runs this ride 3 times each hour. How many people can ride the Wild River Ride in 1 hour if all of the rafts are used and each raft is full?
(a) Write the equations you can use to solve the problem. Use letter symbols to represent unknown numbers in each equation.

Answer 1

Tammy,

 

Each time the ride runs it can hold 15 * 12 = 180 people (P) with full rafts.  Each hour it runs 3 times, so multiply the number in one ride by 3:

 

P = 180 * 3

 

P = 540 people can ride in one hour.  A full equation for the time would be:

 

(15 rafts  *  12 per raft) * 3 = P 

 

Hope this helps!