Question

the number of bricks, b, that a man can carry varies inversely with the mass of each brick, m kg. If the man can carry 14 bricks of mass 4 kg, find the relationship between b and m. Hence find the number of 32 kg bricks that he can carry.​

Answer 1

1.75 bricks rounded down to 1 brick.

Explanation:

14 bricks of mass 4kg/brick is a total of 56kg.

Divide this number (56kg) by the mass of the new brick (32kg) to find the number of bricks the man can carry:

(56 kg)/(32 kg) = 1.75 bricks, or 1 brick rounded down to the nearest whole brick.

Answer 2

The relationship between the number of bricks (b) and the mass of each brick (m kg) can be expressed as an inverse variation. Inverse variation, also known as inverse proportion, can be represented mathematically as:

b = k/m

where k is the constant of variation.

Given that the man can carry 14 bricks (b) of mass 4 kg (m), we can substitute these values into the equation to find the value of k:

14 = k/4

To solve for k, we can cross-multiply and then divide:

14 * 4 = k

56 = k

Therefore, the relationship between b and m is:

b = 56/m

To find the number of 32 kg bricks that the man can carry, we can substitute the mass (m) as 32 kg into the equation:

b = 56/32

Simplifying the expression:

b = 7/4

Therefore, the man can carry 7/4 or 1.75 bricks of 32 kg each.