Analyze Units

7-3 Problem Solving Skill

Learn to use one or You can measure the speed

more conversion factors of an object using a strobe
to solve rate problems. lamp and a camera in a dark
room. Each time the lamp
Vocabulary flashes, the camera records
conversion factor the object’s position.
Problems often require dimensional analysis, also
called unit analysis, to convert from one unit to another unit.
To convert units, multiply by one or more ratios of equal quantities
called conversion factors .
For example, to convert inches to feet you would
1 ft
use the ratio at right as a conversion factor.


12 in.
Multiplying by a conversion factor is
1 ft 12 in. 1 ft
like multiplying by a fraction that




, or

,
1
12 in. 12 in. 1 ft
reduces to 1, such as
55
.

EXAMPLE 1 Finding Conversion Factors

Find the appropriate factor for each conversion.

The conversion factor A quarts to gallons

• must introduce the There are 4 quarts in 1 gallon. To convert quarts to gallons,
unit desired in the 1 gal
multiply the number of quarts by

.
4 qt
answer and
• must cancel the B meters to centimeters
original unit so
that the unit There are 100 centimeters in 1 meter. To convert meters to
100 cm
desired is all that centimeters, multiply the number of meters by

.
1m
remains.

EXAMPLE 2 Using Conversion Factors to Solve Problems

The average American eats 23 pounds of pizza per year. Find the
number of ounces of pizza the average American eats per year.
The problem gives the ratio 23 pounds to 1 year and asks for an answer
in ounces per year.
23 lb 16 oz




Multiply the ratio by the conversion factor.
1 yr 1 lb
23  16 oz lb oz oz



Cancel lb units.
y
r 
lb


y

1 yr r

368 oz per year Multiply 23 by 16 oz.
The average American eats 368 ounces of pizza per year.

350 Chapter 7 Ratios and Similarity

EXAMPLE 3 PROBLEM SOLVING APPLICATION
A car traveled 990 feet down a road
in 15 seconds. How many miles per
hour was the car traveling?

1 Understand the Problem

1.
The problem is stated in units of
feet and seconds. The question
asks for the answer in units of miles
and hours. You will need to use several
conversion factors.
List the important information:
1 mi
• Feet to miles


5280 ft
60 s 60 min
• Seconds to minutes

; minutes to hours


1 min 1h

1.2 Make a Plan

Multiply by each conversion factor separately, or simplify the
problem and multiply by several conversion factors at once.

1.3 Solve
First, convert 990 feet in 15 seconds into a unit rate.
990 ft (990  15) ft 66 ft









15 s (15  15) s 1s
Create a single conversion factor to convert seconds directly to hours:
60 s 60 min
seconds to minutes

; minutes to hours


1 min 1h
60 s 60 min 3600 s
1 min  1 h
seconds to hours








1h
66 ft 1 mi 3600 s






Set up the conversion factors.
1 s 5280 ft 1h
Do not include the numbers yet. Notice what happens to the units.
ft mi s mi






Simplify. Only
h
remain.
s ft h
66 ft 1 mi 3600 s






Multiply.
1 s 5280 ft 1h
66  1 mi  3600 237,600 mi 45 mi









1  5280  1 h 5280 h 1h
The car was traveling 45 miles per hour.

1.4 Look Back

A rate of 45 mi/h is less than 1 mi/min. 15 seconds is
14
min. A car
traveling 45 mi/h would go less than
14
of 5280 ft in 15 seconds. It goes
990 ft, so 45 mi/h is a reasonable speed.

7-3 Analyze Units 351

 EXAMPLE 4 Physical Science Application
A strobe lamp can be used to measure the speed of an object.
Physical Science The lamp flashes every
1
1000 s. A camera records the object moving


7.5 cm between flashes. How fast is the object moving in m/s?
7.5 cm distance

1
Use rate


.
time


s
1000
1
It may help to eliminate the fraction

first.
1000
7.5 cm 1000  7.5 cm

1



Multiply top and bottom by 1000.
1


s
1000 1000 

s
1000
7500 cm




1s
Now convert centimeters to meters.
A strobe light flashing
on dripping liquid can 7500 cm



make droplets appear 1s
to stand still or even 7500 cm 1m





Multiply by the conversion factor.
move upward. 1s 100 cm
7500 m 75 m







100 s 1s
The object is traveling 75 m/s.

EXAMPLE 5 Transportation Application

The rate of one knot equals one nautical mile per hour. One
nautical mile is 1852 meters. What is the speed in meters per
second of a ship traveling at 20 knots?
20 knots
20 nautical mi/h
Set up the units to obtain m/s in your answer.
nautical mi m h






Examine the units.
h nautical mi s
20 nautical mi 1852 m 1h







h nautical mi 3600 s
20  1852


 10.3
3600
The ship is traveling about 10.3 m/s.

Think and Discuss

lb lb
1. Give the conversion factor for converting
y
r to

mo

.
2. Explain how to find whether 10 miles per hour is faster than
15 feet per second.
3. Give an example of a conversion between units that includes
ounces as a unit in the conversion.

352 Chapter 7 Ratios and Similarity

7-3 Exercises
FOR EXTRA PRACTICE
Homework Help Online
see page 744
go.hrw.com Keyword: MP4 7-3

8.2.spi.2

GUIDED PRACTICE
See Example 1 Find the appropriate factor for each conversion.
1. feet to inches 2. gallons to pints 3. centimeters to meters

See Example 2 4. Aihua drinks 4 cups of water a day. Find the total number of gallons
of water she drinks in a year.

See Example 3 5. A model airplane flies 22 feet in 2 seconds. What is the airplane’s
speed in miles per hour?

See Example 4 6. If a fish swims 0.09 centimeter every hundredth of a second, how
fast in meters per second is it swimming?

See Example 5 7. There are about 400 cocoa beans in a pound. There are 2.2 pounds
in a kilogram. About how many grams does a cocoa bean weigh?

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
See Example 1 Find the appropriate factor for each conversion.
8. kilometers to meters 9. inches to yards 10. days to weeks

See Example 2 11. A theme park sells 71,175 yards of licorice each year. How many feet
per day does the park sell?

See Example 3 12. A yellow jacket can fly 4.5 meters in 9 seconds. How fast in kilometers
per hour can a yellow jacket fly?

See Example 4 13. Brilco Manufacturing produces 0.2 of a brick every tenth of a second.
How many bricks can be produced in an 8-hour day?

See Example 5 14. Assume that one dollar is equal to 1.14 euros. If 500 g of an item is
selling for 25 euros, what is its price in dollars per kg?

PRACTICE AND PROBLEM SOLVING

Use conversion factors to find each specified amount.
15. radios produced in 5 hours at a rate of 3 radios per minute
16. distance traveled (in feet) after 12 seconds at 87 miles per hour
17. hot dogs eaten in a month at a rate of 48 hot dogs eaten each year
18. umbrellas sold in a year at a rate of 5 umbrellas sold per day
19. miles jogged in 1 hour at an average rate of 7.3 feet per second
20. states visited in a two-week political campaign at a rate of 2 states
per day

7-3 Analyze Units 353