Question

It takes a hose 2 minutes to fill a rectangular aquarium 8 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 13 inches tall. How long will it take the same hose to fill an aquarium measuring 21 inches by 29 inches by 30 inches?

Answer 1

To make it easier, you calculate the volume of the first aquarium.

1st aquarium:
V = L x W x H
V = 8 x 9 x 13
V = 72 x 13
V = 936 in.
Rate: 936 in./2 min.

Now that you've got the volume and rate of the first aquarium, you can find how many inches of the aquarium is filled within a minute, which is also known as the unit rate. To do that, you have to divide both the numerator and denominator by their least common multiple, which is 2. 936 divided by 2 is 468 and 2 divided by 2 is 1.
So the unit rate is 468 in./1 min. Now that you've got the unit rate, you can find out how long it'll take to fill the second aquarium up by finding its volume first.

2nd aquarium:
V = L x W x H
V = 21 x 29 x 30
V = 609 x 30
V 18,270 inches

Calculations:
Now, you divide 18,270 by 468 to find how many minutes it will take to fill up the second aquarium. 18,270 divided by 468 is about 39 (the answer wasn't exact, so I said "about").
 
2nd aquarium's rate:
18,270 in./39 min.

As a result, it'll take about 39 minutes to fill up an aquarium measuring 21 inches by 29 inches by 30 inches using the same hose. I really hope I helped and that you understood my explanation! :) If I didn't, I'm sorry. I tried. :(