Consider the formula that relates distance, velocity, and time (d = vt). If you are interested in the time it takes for a ladybug traveling at a speed of 3 inches per second to crawl up a 10-foot section of wall, which unit conversion makes the most sense to use?

Answer 1

To solve the problem, we need to ensure that the units are consistent when we apply the formula \( d = vt \).

Given:

• Speed of the ladybug \( v = 3 \) inches per second.
• Distance \( d = 10 \) feet.

Since the speed is given in inches, it makes the most sense to convert the distance from feet to inches.

1 foot is equal to 12 inches, so: \[ 10 \text{ feet} = 10 \times 12 \text{ inches} = 120 \text{ inches}. \]

Now we have:

• Distance \( d = 120 \) inches.
• Speed \( v = 3 \) inches per second.

Now, we can calculate the time \( t \) it takes for the ladybug to crawl up the wall using the rearranged formula \( t = \frac{d}{v} \): \[ t = \frac{120 \text{ inches}}{3 \text{ inches/second}} = 40 \text{ seconds}. \]

Therefore, the most sensible unit conversion is to convert feet to inches.