Question

An N-scale model railroad caboose is 3 inches long. N scale is 169 feet to 1 foot.

Let c represent the length of a real caboose. Write a proportion, in terms of c, that can be used to solve for the length of a real caboose. (Hint: Compare feet to inches. How many inches are in one foot?)


How long (in feet) is a real caboose?

ft

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

• c/3 = 169/12
• 42 1/4 feet

Explanation:

Since we want to know the actual number of feet, we can write the proportion with that in the numerator.

`\frac{\text{actual feet}}{\text{scale inches}}=\boxed{(c)/(3)=(169)/(12)}\\\\c=(3\cdot169)/(12)=42(1)/(4)\qquad\text{multiply by 3}`

The real caboose is 42 1/4 feet long.