Question

The base and height of the triangular mainsail of a sailboat ate 1.5 times greater than the base and height of the boats triangular staysail.How many times greater is the area of the mainsail than the area of the staysail?

Answer 1

Remember that area always involves a length times a length.

The base of the mainsail is 1.5 times greater.
AND
The height of the mainsail is 1.5 times greater.

So the area of the mainsail is 1.5 times 1.5 greater.

1.5 • 1.5 = 2.25

The mainsail's area is 2.25 times greater than the smaller sail.

Answer 2

2.25

Explanation:

Plug in random numbers for your lengths and widths of the sails.

Then find the area of the sails.

Then create and equation: (the area of the staysail) • x = (the area of the mainsail)

In other words you is are finding what you have to multiply to the staysail to get the mainsail (the mainsail is x times greater)

Solve for x. No matter what numbers you plug in for your length and width, you will always get 2.25 as the amount times greater the mainsail is than the staysail