Question

From 1957 to 1999, the Atlas rocket was launched 301 times. The number of launch failures was 44. At that rate, if it were launched 903 times, how many failures could be expected?

Answer 1

We have been given that from 1957 to 1999, the Atlas rocket was launched 301 times. The number of launch failures was 44. We are asked to find the number of expected failures at the same rate, if it were launched 903 times.

We will use proportions to solve our given problem.

$\frac{\text{Failures}}{\text{Total launches}}=\frac{44}{301}$

Upon substituting total launches (903) in above equation, we will get:

$\frac{\text{Failures}}{903}=\frac{44}{301}$

$\frac{\text{Failures}}{903}\times 903=\frac{44}{301}\times 903$

$\text{Failures}=44\times 3$

$\text{Failures}=132$

Therefore, 132 failures could be expected.