Question

A stack of 75 identical plastic plates forms a column approximately 9 inches tall. How many plates would be needed to form a column 20 inches tall?

A) 150
B) 225
C) 300
D) 400

Answer 1

To form a column 20 inches tall, you would need 167 plates.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the number of plates needed to form a column 20 inches tall, we can set up a proportion using the heights and number of plates. Let's call the number of plates needed to form a 20-inch tall column x. The proportion is:

9/75 = 20/x

Cross-multiplying gives us:

9x = 1500

Dividing both sides by 9:

x = 166.67

Since we can't have a fraction of a plate, we need to round up to the next whole number. Therefore, we need 167 plates to form a column 20 inches tall.