Asked by Celia P.

Hello! This is a practice problem that I am having trouble with! I just want to know how to solve it, as I am stuck on this.

Question:
Abbey takes a picture, lights the candles, and then lets them burn for 1 hour. She then takes a second picture. You can assume that each candle burns at its own constant rate.

Candle Type A initial height = 20 cm
Candle Type B initial height = 10 cm
Candle Type A height after burning for 1 hour = 16 cm
Candle Type B height after burning for 1 hour = 9 cm

Candles A and B are lit at the same time. What will be the height, in cm, of
each candle after 3 hours of burning?

I do believe this may have to do with ratios... But I'm not 100% sure how to solve it. Any help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Answered by oobleck
A clearly burns at 4cm/hr
B burns at 1cm/hr
so, the models are
A: y = 20-4x
B: y = 10 - x

Now you can plug in any value for x to see the height at that time.

The only ratio is that A burns 4 times as fast as B
So, if you can figure out how much B has shrunk in any time period, A has burned 4 times that far.
Answered by Celia P.
Oobleck, you have saved me! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
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