Question

on a certain planet, objects weight about 7/12 of what they weigh on earth. an object weights 13 5/12 pounds on the planet. solve the equation 7/12 w= 13 5/12 for w to find the objects weight on earth in pounds.

Answer 1

Although the concept here is physics, the solution is technically just algebra. You have two situations that are related to each other which can be expressed in equation form. Actually, the equation is already given which is 7/12 w= 13 5/12. So, basically, all you have to do is solve for w.

Let's simplify 13 5/12 first into an improper fraction.You do this by multiplying the denominator with the whole number and adding to it the numerator. This will be your new numerator, The denominator would still be 12. So, this is equal to (12*13 + 5)/12 = 161/2. Then,

(7/12) w = 161/12

By cross multiplication,

7*12*w = 161*12
w = 161/7 = 23

Therefore, w = 23 pounds which is the weight of the object on Earth.