Question

A wildlife sanctuary has two elephants. One has a weight of 11,028 pounds and the other has a weight of 5 1/2 tons. A platform can hold 22,000 pounds. Can the platform hold both elephants

Answer 1

The platform cannot hold both elephants.

Explanation:

This problem is solved by conversion of units.

Elephant A weighs 11,028 pounds

Elephant B weighs 5 1/2 = 5.5 tons

The platform can hold 22,000 pounds

To see if the platform holds both elephants, the first step is converting the weigth of Elephant B to pounds.

Each ton has 2000 pounds.

So 5.5 tons have 5.5*2000 = 11000 pounds.

So Elephant B weighs 11000 pounds

Combined weights of Elephants A and B

11,028 + 11,000 = 22,028 > 22,000

The platform cannot hold both elephants.