Question

An automobile manufacturer is preparing a shipment of cars and trucks on a cargo ship that can carry 21,600 tons. The cars weigh 3.6 tons each, and the trucks weigh 7.5 tons each. Write an equation that represents the situation.

a) 3.6x + 7.5y = 21,600
b) 7.5x + 3.6y = 21,600
c) 21,600x + 3.6y = 7.5
d) 21,600x + 7.5y = 3.6

Answer 1

The equation that represents the situation is 3.6x + 7.5y = 21,600. The variable x represents the number of cars and the variable y represents the number of trucks.

Step-by-step explanation:

The equation that represents the situation is 3.6x + 7.5y = 21,600. The variable x represents the number of cars and the variable y represents the number of trucks. Since the cars weigh 3.6 tons each and the trucks weigh 7.5 tons each, we multiply the number of cars by 3.6 and the number of trucks by 7.5. The sum of these weights should be equal to the total weight carrying capacity of the cargo ship, which is 21,600 tons.