You have to convert the units from in2 to ft2, so you have to multiply the 1,000,000 by factors that have units of ft2/in2. That would be (1 ft/12 in)*(1 ft/12 in)= 1ft2/144 in2:
(1,000,000 in2)*(1 ft/12 in)*(1 ft/12 in) = 6944.44... ft2
Philip P.
tutor
(1 ft/12 in) is the multiplier used twice This multiplier converts inches to feet. but we want square feet, so we need to use it twice. Just looking at the units:
- Start with in2
- Multiply in2 by (ft/in): in2 * (ft/in) = in*in*ft/in = in*ft
- Multiply (in*ft) by (ft/in) again: (in*ft)* (ft/in) = ft*ft*in/in = ft*ft = ft2
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05/30/17
Arturo O.
I have never heard the term "two unit multiplier" before. (Is that a term from Common Core?) Apparently, it means the same as a conversion factor. For example, to convert feet to inches, recall 1 foot = 12 inches, and multiply the number of feet by 12 inches/foot. To convert inches to feet, recall 1 inch = 1/12 of a foot ≅ 0.0833 feet. Multiply the number of inches by 0.0833 ft/inch. In this problem you have to convert in2 to ft2, so the conversion factor is squared.
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05/31/17
Philip P.
tutor
I've never run across the term until this year, when it it was used by some students taking Saxon Math. A unit multiplier is just a single unit-to-unit conversion factor such as 1 ft/12 in or 2.54 cm/ 1 in. They want want you to step through it, so a two unit multiplier means apply two unit conversions to do the conversion. The way they teach it now, you would convert from inches to meters using two unit multipliers:
(50 in)*(2.54 cm/1 in)*(1 m/ 100 cm)
The multipliers are (2.54/ 1 in) and (1 m/ 100 cm).
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05/31/17
Chris E.
05/30/17