An oil spill covers 4 square kilometers in 14

Question

of an hour. At this rate, how many square kilometers will it cover in 2 hours?(1 point)
Responses

2 square kilometers
2 square kilometers

8 square kilometers
8 square kilometers

16 square kilometers
16 square kilometers

32 square kilometers

Answer 1

To determine how many square kilometers the oil spill will cover in 2 hours, we first need to find the rate at which it spreads.

Given that the oil spill covers 4 square kilometers in \( \frac{1}{4} \) of an hour (14 minutes corresponds to \( \frac{1}{4} \) of an hour), we can calculate the rate of spread.

First, we convert \( \frac{1}{4} \) of an hour into hours:

• \( \frac{1}{4} \text{ hour} = 15 \text{ minutes} \)

Now, we calculate the rate:

\[ \text{Rate} = \frac{4 \text{ square kilometers}}{\frac{1}{4} \text{ hour}} = 4 \text{ square kilometers} \times 4 = 16 \text{ square kilometers per hour} \]

Next, we can calculate how many square kilometers it will cover in 2 hours:

\[ \text{Distance in 2 hours} = 16 \text{ square kilometers per hour} \times 2 \text{ hours} = 32 \text{ square kilometers} \]

Thus, at this rate, the oil spill will cover 32 square kilometers in 2 hours.

The correct response is 32 square kilometers.