Question

Melinda rents paddle boats down at the pier. She uses 5.5 feet of nylon rope to tie off each boat. She started with 80 feet of rope. After securing all the boats, she was left with more than 3 feet of rope. How many boats did Melinda tie off?

Answer 1

Less than 14

Explanation:

Plato

Answer 2

The number of boats Melinda tied are less than 14.

Explanation:

Let the number of boats = n

Now, Melinda ties 1 boat with 5.5 feet of nylon rope.

So, she ties 'n' boats with
`5.5n` feet of nylon rope.

That is, the length of the rope used =
`5.5n` feet of nylon rope .....(1)

Since, initial length of the rope = 80 feet and the remaining length of the rope > 3 feet.

Then, the length of the rope used < 80 - 3 .....(2)

That is, from (1) and (2),

`5.5n<80-3\\\\5.5n<77\\\\n<(77)/(5.5)\\\\n<14`

Hence, the number of boats Melinda tied are less than 14.