Question

The height of the water in an a over ground pool is 3ft. As the number of water drains ,the rate of -1/2 inch per minute. Write and solve an equation to find how many minutes it will take to drain the pool

Answer 1

36 - 1/2x = 0

72 minutes

Explanation:

there is a total of 3 feet in the pool at the start, 1 ft = 12 in, and 3 ft = 36 in. the pool is losing water, so we have to subtract. it is losing water at a rate of -1/2 in per minute, and we don't know how many minutes it will take

we have to set it equal to 0 because we are trying to find out how long it will be until the pool is completely drained, which is when there will be no water left, so it will be 0

subtract 36 from both sides

-1/2x = -36

divide both sides by -1/2

x = 72

72 minutes