How to figure out the word problem which states that under normal conditions, 1.5 feet of snow will melt into 2 inches of water. After a recent snowstorm,there were 4 feet of snow. How many inches of water will there be when the snow melts?
lyout
To figure out the number of inches of water that will be produced when the 4 feet of snow melts, you can use the given conversion ratio between snow and water.
The conversion ratio states that 1.5 feet of snow melts into 2 inches of water. This means that for every 1.5 feet of snow that melts, it produces 2 inches of water.
Given that there are 4 feet of snow, you can set up a proportion to solve for the unknown number of inches of water:
1.5 feet of snow is to 2 inches of water as 4 feet of snow is to X inches of water
1.5/2 = 4/X
To solve for X, you can cross-multiply the fractions:
1.5X = 2 * 4
1.5X = 8
Now, divide both sides of the equation by 1.5 to isolate X:
X = 8 / 1.5
X ≈ 5.33
Therefore, when the 4 feet of snow melts, it will produce approximately 5.33 inches of water.