Question

An airplane can ascend at a rate of 54 1/2 meters in 2/3 of a second. How many meters can the airplane ascend in one second?

Answer 1

The airplane ascends
`81\,(3)/(4)` meters in one second.

Explanation:

Given that the airplane ascends
`54\,(1)/(2)` (
`(109)/(2)`) meters in
`(2)/(3)` seconds, we calculate the ascent rate of the airplane by simple rule of three:

`x = ((109)/(2)\,m )/((2)/(3)\,s ) * 1\,s`

`x = (327)/(4)\,m`

`x = 81\,(3)/(4)\,m`

The airplane ascends
`81\,(3)/(4)` meters in one second.