Suppose that 12 inches of wire costs 36 cents.
At the same rate, how many inches of wire can be bought for 24 cents?
To find out how many inches of wire can be bought for 24 cents, we can set up a proportion using the information given. Let's use x to represent the number of inches of wire that can be bought for 24 cents:
12 inches of wire costs 36 cents
x inches of wire costs 24 cents
Using the proportion:
12 inches/36 cents = x inches/24 cents
To solve for x, we can cross-multiply:
12 * 24 = 36 * x
288 = 36x
Dividing both sides by 36:
288/36 = x
x = 8
Therefore, for 24 cents, you can buy 8 inches of wire.