Question

To balance a seesaw, the distance, in feet, a person is from the fulcrum is inversely proportional to the person's weight, in pounds. Bill, who weighs 150 pounds, is sitting 4 feet away from the fulcrum. If Dan weighs 120 pounds, how far from the fulcrum should he sit to balance the seesaw?

A) 3 ft
B) 4.5 ft
C) 5 ft
D) 3.5 ft

Answer 1

To balance the seesaw, Dan should sit 5 feet away from the fulcrum.

Step-by-step explanation:

To balance a seesaw, the distance a person is from the fulcrum is inversely proportional to their weight. In this case, we know that Bill weighs 150 pounds and is sitting 4 feet away from the fulcrum. We can use this information to find the constant of proportionality and then use it to calculate the distance Dan should sit to balance the seesaw.

Let's assume the constant of proportionality is k. We have the equation k = weight * distance.

Using Bill's weight and distance, we can find k: k = 150 * 4 = 600.

To find Dan's distance, we can rearrange the equation to distance = k / weight. Plugging in Dan's weight (120 pounds) and the value of k (600), we get distance = 600 / 120 = 5 feet.

Therefore, Dan should sit 5 feet away from the fulcrum to balance the seesaw. So, the correct answer is option C) 5 ft.