A chemical spill is leaking into a river flowing 2 3/10 miles per hour
How long will it take the chemicals to reach a town located 34 1/2 miles downstream from the spill
To find the time it takes for the chemicals to reach the town downstream, we need to divide the distance by the speed of the river.
The distance from the chemical spill to the town downstream is 34 1/2 miles.
The speed of the river is 2 3/10 miles per hour.
To convert the mixed number to an improper fraction, we multiply the denominator (10) by the whole number (2), then add the numerator to get the new numerator.
2 * 10 + 3 = 23
The speed of the river is 23/10 miles per hour.
To find the time, we divide the distance (34 1/2 miles) by the speed (23/10 miles per hour).
34 1/2 ÷ 23/10
To divide fractions, we multiply the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction.
34 1/2 × 10/23
To multiply mixed numbers, we multiply the whole number by the fraction and add it to the product of the numerator and the denominator, over the denominator.
34 × 10/23 + 1/2 × 10/23
340/23 + 10/23
350/23
The time it takes for the chemicals to reach the town downstream is 350/23 hours.