Question

A plumber has several 48-inch pipes in the back of his van. If he uses the variable x to represent how many pipes he has, which expression can he use to figure out the total length of pipe he has available?

a) 48 * x
b) 48 + 48
c) 48 + x
d) x

Answer 1

The total length of pipe a plumber has can be determined by multiplying the length of one pipe (48 inches) by the number of pipes x, represented by the expression 48 * x.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the total length of pipe that a plumber has, we need to multiply the number of pipes by the length of each pipe. Since we are given that each pipe is 48 inches long and the plumber uses the variable x to represent the number of pipes, the total length L of pipes can be found using the expression L = 48 * x. This is because for each pipe added, we add an additional 48 inches to the total length.

Therefore, the correct expression to use is:

a) 48 * x

This expression will give us the total length of pipe in inches that the plumber has when we substitute x with the number of 48-inch pipes.