A giant tortoise can live 175 years in captivity. The gastrotrich, which is a small aquatic animal, has a life span of only 3 days (72 hours). If a gastrotrich died after 36 hours, a giant tortoise that lived 87.5 years would live proportionally the same because they both would have died halfway through their life-span. How long would a giant tortoise live if it lived proportionally the same as the gastrotrich that died after 50 hours?

Question

A giant tortoise can live 175 years in captivity. The gastrotrich, which is a small aquatic animal, has a life span of only 3 days (72 hours). If a gastrotrich died after 36 hours, a giant tortoise that lived 87.5 years would live proportionally the same because they both would have died halfway through their life-span. How long would a giant tortoise live if it lived proportionally the same as the gastrotrich that died after 50 hours?

Answer 1

The gastro would have lived 50/72 times its normal life span. So, for the tortoise,

50/72 = x/175
x = 121.5 years

Answer 2

To solve this problem, we need to establish a proportional relationship between the life spans of the gastrotrich and the giant tortoise.

Let's start by finding the proportionality factor between the two life spans. We know that the gastrotrich has a life span of 72 hours, and it dies after 36 hours, which is half of its life span.

Proportionality factor = (life span of gastrotrich) / (time at which gastrotrich dies)

Proportionality factor = 72 hours / 36 hours = 2

Using this proportionality factor, we can calculate the expected life span of the giant tortoise if it lived proportionally to the gastrotrich that died after 50 hours.

Life span of giant tortoise = (proportionality factor) * (time at which gastrotrich dies)

Life span of giant tortoise = 2 * 50 hours = 100 years

Therefore, if a giant tortoise lived proportionally to the gastrotrich that died after 50 hours, it would live for 100 years.