Question

Rates are often used to describe how quickly something is moving or changing.

a. A wildfire spreads at a rate of 1000 acres per day. How many acres will the fire cover in 2 days? Show that your answer is reasonable.
b. How many acres will the fire cover in 5 days? Explain how you found your answer.
c. Another wildfire spread for 7 days and covered a total of 780 square miles. How can you estimate the number of square miles the fire covered per day?

Answer 1

a. If in one day a wildfire spreads at a rate of 1000 acres, in two days the wildfire will cover approximately 2000 acres.

b. Similar to Part a., if a wildfire spreads at a rate of 1000 acres a day, it will cover approximately 5000 acres in five days.

c. You can estimate the number of square miles covered by the fire per day by dividing 780 square miles by 7 days.