Questions: A sign shows that the distance to New York is 18 miles. A traveler wants to know what this distance is in kilometers. Help the traveler by completing the parts below.
(a) Let X be the unknown number of kilometers. Using the values below, create a proportion that can be used to find X. Use the conversion 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers.
(b) Use the proportion from part (a) to find the distance to New York in kilometers. Do not round any computations.
kilometers
Transcript text: A sign shows that the distance to New York is 18 miles. A traveler wants to know what this distance is in kilometers. Help the traveler by completing the parts below.
(a) Let $X$ be the unknown number of kilometers. Using the values below, create a proportion that can be used to find $X$. Use the conversion 1 mile $=1.6$ kilometers.
(b) Use the proportion from part (a) to find the distance to New York in kilometers. Do not round any computations.
$\square$ kilometers
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Set up the proportion
Given the conversion \( 1 \) mile \( = 1.6 \) kilometers, we can set up a proportion to find the unknown number of kilometers \( X \). The proportion is:
\[
\frac{1 \text{ mile}}{1.6 \text{ kilometers}} = \frac{18 \text{ miles}}{X \text{ kilometers}}
\]
Step 2: Solve for \( X \)
Cross-multiply to solve for \( X \):
\[
1 \cdot X = 1.6 \cdot 18
\]
\[
X = 1.6 \cdot 18
\]
Step 3: Calculate the value of \( X \)
Multiply \( 1.6 \) by \( 18 \):
\[
X = 28.8
\]
The distance to New York in kilometers is \( 28.8 \) kilometers.