The tail of a reticulated whiptail ray can be 3 times it's body length. If the ray measures 20 feet from the very front of its body to the very end of its tail, what is the length of its body? What is the length of its tail?
To determine the length of the body and the tail of the reticulated whiptail ray, we can set up a system of equations based on the information given.
Let's use the variable "x" to represent the length of the body of the ray.
According to the information given, the tail of the ray can be 3 times its body length. Therefore, the length of the tail would be 3x.
We are also given that the total length of the ray, from the very front of its body to the very end of its tail, is 20 feet. This can be expressed as:
Length of body (x) + Length of tail (3x) = Total length of ray (20)
Now, we can solve this equation to find the length of the ray's body (x) and the length of its tail (3x).
x + 3x = 20
Combining like terms:
4x = 20
Dividing both sides of the equation by 4:
x = 5
Therefore, the length of the body of the reticulated whiptail ray is 5 feet.
To find the length of its tail, we substitute the value of x back into the equation:
3x = 3 * 5 = 15
Thus, the length of the tail of the ray is 15 feet.