A factory makes 445 shirts in 2.5 hours. They only work for 8 hours each day. How much days will it take to make 7088 shirts?

Question

They only work for 8 hours each day. How much days will it take to make 7088 shirts ?

Answer 1

Hi Dunia,

 

This is a proportion or ratio problem. The best way to handle these problems is:
- Set it up as fractions equal to each other.
- Be very careful where you put the x (the unknown)
- Cross-multiply to solve.

 

However, there are a couple of steps to this problem.  Thankfully, both steps involve proportions.  First we need to go from hours to days.  So our first formula is:

445      X
___ = ___    (445 Shirts : 2.5 Hours = X Shirts : 8 Hours [1 Day])
2.5       8

When we cross-multiply we get:

2.5X = 445 x 8   ...   2.5X = 3560   ...   X = 1424

 

Now we can get to the actual question.  Again, set it up as a proportion problem.

1424    7088
____ = ____    (1424 Shirts : 1 Day = 7088 Shirts : X Days)
  1          X

 

Again, we cross-multiply and get:

1424X = 7088   ...   X = 4.9775

 

In the real world, we would simply round up to 5.  It would take 5 days to make 7088 shirts (plus a few more).

 

BTW- The question should read "how many days", not "how much days".  If you don't understand that, I can help you with that, too.  

 

Paul L.