An alligators tail length, T varies directly as its body length, B. An alligator with a body length of 5.4 feet has a tail length of 4.8 feet. what is the tail length of an alligator whose body length is 4.5 feet? In desperate need of solving this!
You could use a proportion.
5.4/4.8 = 4.5/x
Cross multiply and solve for x.
5.4x = 21.6
x = 4
To solve this problem, you can use the concept of direct variation. In direct variation, two variables are directly proportional to each other. In this case, the tail length (T) is directly proportional to the body length (B).
We can set up a proportion to solve for the missing value. We know that when the body length is 5.4 feet, the tail length is 4.8 feet. Let's use these values to set up our proportion:
T₁ / B₁ = T₂ / B₂
Where T₁ and B₁ are the known tail length and body length, and T₂ and B₂ are the unknown tail length and body length.
Let's substitute the known values into our proportion:
4.8 / 5.4 = T₂ / 4.5
Now we can solve for T₂:
4.8 * 4.5 = 5.4 * T₂
21.6 = 5.4T₂
Divide both sides by 5.4 to isolate T₂:
21.6 / 5.4 = T₂
T₂ ≈ 4
Therefore, the tail length of an alligator with a body length of 4.5 feet would be approximately 4 feet.