Question

Every rope has a safe working load. A rope should not be used to lift a weight greater than its safe working load. The table shows the safe working loads $S$ (in pounds) for ropes with circumference $C$ (in inches). Write an equation for the safe working load for a rope. Find the safe working load for a rope that has a circumference of 10 inches.

Answer 1

the equation is:

f(x) = 180x²

the maximum working load for a 10 inch rope = 180 · 10² = 18,000 pounds

Explanation:

the table is missing, so I looked it up:

inches safe working load

0 0

1 180

2 720

3 1620

180 is their common denominator:

0 0 0

1 180 1

2 180 4

3 180 9

1, 4, and 9 follow a pattern x²:

0 0

1 1

2 4

3 9

4 16

5 25

6 36

7 49

8 64

9 81

10 100