Suppose that in 8 minutes, 48 gallons of water came out of a pipe. What was the rate in gallons per minute?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To find the rate at which water flows from the pipe in gallons per minute, we need to use the formula:
[
\text{Rate} = \frac{\text{Total Gallons}}{\text{Time in Minutes}}
]
Given:
- Total Gallons of water = 48 gallons
- Time = 8 minutes
Now, plug the values into the formula:
[
\text{Rate} = \frac{48 \text{ gallons}}{8 \text{ minutes}}
]
[
\text{Rate} = 6 \text{ gallons per minute}
]
So, the rate of water flowing through the pipe is 6 gallons per minute.
Explanation:
In this problem, we are calculating the rate of flow, which tells us how many gallons of water are coming out of the pipe every minute. The rate of flow is a measurement of how much of something (in this case, water) is happening over a period of time (in this case, every minute).
To find this rate, we divide the total amount of water by the total time that it flowed. This method of calculating rates is widely used in various fields such as physics, engineering, and economics. In this case, dividing 48 gallons by 8 minutes tells us that, on average, 6 gallons of water are coming out of the pipe each minute.
This type of rate calculation is straightforward and often used to solve practical problems. It is important to understand that rate is a ratio of two quantities: the total amount of something and the total time or distance (or another variable) over which the event occurs.
So, by dividing the total amount (48 gallons) by the total time (8 minutes), we can easily determine that the rate of water flow is 6 gallons per minute.