Write each rate as a fraction in lowest terms.

Question

45 feet in 30 seconds

I've been stuck on this one for a while

Answer 1

To put this rate in simplest terms, you want to reduce all common factors.

Begin by listing the factors of each number.

45 = 3 x 3 x 5

30 = 2 x 3 x 5

As you can see, you can cross out number that are in both sets.

45 = 3 x 3 x 5

30 = 2 x 3 x 5

You are only left with 3/2. The simplest you can get is 3 feet in 2 seconds.

Answer 2

Rates in lowest terms a certain unit of measure per single unit of time. For example, X miles per HOUR. For your problem, you would simplify 45 feet in 30 seconds to number of feet per single second (ft/s). To do this, you divide both the numerator and the denominator by the integer in the denominator (which will turn the denominator to 1), in this case, 30. Therefore, your lowest terms would be 1.5 feet per second.