Hot air balloon

Question

A hot air balloon ascending at a constant rate climbed 54 meters in 30 seconds. At this rate, about how many minutes will it take the balloon to climb to an altitude of ½ kilometer?

Answer 1

54 meters in 30 seconds = 0.054 meters in 1/2 minute or 0.5 minutes

1/2 km = 0.5 km = 500 meters

x/500 = (1/2)/54 = 1/108

108x = 500

x = 500/108 = 250/54 = 125/27 = about 4.63 minutes to reach 1/2 km

125/27 minutes = 60(125)/27 = 20(125)/9 = 2500/9 = about 277.8 seconds 277.8/60 = 4.63 minutes

0.5 km/0.054 km = x/0.5 min. ratio of km to km = ratio of corresponding minutes to minutes

cross multiply

0.054x = 0.25

x = 0.25/0.054 = 25/5.4= about 4.63 minutes

each minute the hot air balloon goes up 108 meters. to reach 500 meters requires 500/108 = about 4.63 minutes = about 4 minutes and 38 seconds, or 4 1/2 minutes + 7.8 seconds