Final answer:
To find the unit rate (books per hour) at which the publishing company prints books, divide the number of books printed by the time taken. In this case, the unit rate is 13 books per 3 hours.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the unit rate (books per hour) at which the publishing company prints books, we need to divide the number of books printed by the time taken. In this case, the publishing company can print 3 1/4 books in 3/4 of an hour. To divide a whole number by a fraction, we need to multiply the whole number by the reciprocal of the fraction. So, we can multiply 3 1/4 by 4/3 to get the number of books printed per hour:
Start by converting the mixed number 3 1/4 to an improper fraction: 3 1/4 = 13/4
Multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by the reciprocal of 3/4, which is 4/3: 13/4 * 4/3 = 52/12
Simplify the fraction, if possible. In this case, we can divide both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 4: 52/12 = 13/3
Therefore, the unit rate is 13 books per 3 hours.