it takes a 40 lb turkey two hours to cook. Tom baked his own turkey that was 1/5 the size of a 40 lb turkey. How long will it take for Toms turkey to bake ?

This is a faulty problem.

First, I've never seen a 40-lb. turkey.
Second, it takes several hours to cook a 20-lb. turkey.
Third, an 8-lb turkey would take much longer than 15 minutes!

this problem was written by someone who cooks their thanksgiving dinner in the microwave.

its a question in a math book. i tried to figure out the answer and got 15 minutes. hope its right ?

Using the math the book's author expects, you're right. But I wouldn't have the nerve to turn in such a ridiculous answer.

40lbs=120mins;...8lbs=120mins/5=24mins....it takes 24mins to cook 8lbs of turkey.

To determine how long it will take for Tom's turkey to bake, first, we need to find out the weight of Tom's turkey. Given that Tom's turkey is 1/5 the size of a 40 lb turkey, we can calculate:

Weight of Tom's turkey = (1/5) * 40 lb
= 8 lb

Now that we know Tom's turkey weighs 8 lb, we can use the cooking time for the 40 lb turkey as a reference to estimate the cooking time for Tom's turkey. Since Tom's turkey is smaller, it will generally require less time to cook.

However, it's important to note that cooking times for different-sized turkeys can vary. Factors such as the oven temperature, cooking method, stuffing, and other variables can affect the cooking time. Therefore, it's always a good idea to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.

To provide a rough estimate, let's assume that the cooking time is somewhat proportional to the weight. We can set up a proportion to find the cooking time for Tom's turkey:

40 lb turkey => 2 hours
8 lb turkey => x hours

Proportion: 40 lb / 2 hours = 8 lb / x hours

Now, we can solve for x (the time for Tom's turkey to bake):

40 lb * x hours = 8 lb * 2 hours
40x = 16
x = 16 / 40
x = 0.4 hours

Therefore, it will take approximately 0.4 hours to bake Tom's turkey, or equivalently, 24 minutes.