On June 17, heavy rain fell on Seattle for 26 min. at a rate of 3.9 mm/hr. if the area of Seattle is 144km^2, how many gallons of water fell on the city that day?
To calculate the number of gallons of water that fell on Seattle, we need to find the total volume of rainwater that fell during the 26 minutes.
Step 1: Convert the area of Seattle from square kilometers to square meters.
Since 1 km^2 = 1,000,000 m^2, we can calculate:
144 km^2 * 1,000,000 m^2/km^2 = 144,000,000 m^2
Step 2: Convert the rate of rainfall from millimeters per hour to meters per minute.
Since 1 mm/hr = 0.001 m/min, we can calculate:
3.9 mm/hr * (1/1000) m/mm * (1/60) hr/min = 0.000065 m/min
Step 3: Calculate the volume of rainwater fallen in cubic meters.
Volume = rate * time = 0.000065 m/min * 26 min = 0.00169 m^3
Step 4: Convert the volume from cubic meters to gallons.
Since 1 cubic meter = 264.172 gallons, we can calculate:
0.00169 m^3 * 264.172 gallons/m^3 = 0.446 gallons
Therefore, approximately 0.446 gallons of water fell on Seattle during the heavy rain.