Over the last 4 seconds, a snail has traveled StartFraction 4 Over 9 EndFraction of an inch. If the snail traveled the same distance each second, how far did it travel each second?

StartFraction 1 Over 9 EndFraction of an inch
One-fourth of an inch
StartFraction 9 Over 16 EndFraction of an inch
StartFraction 16 Over 9 EndFraction inches

1 answer

To find out how far the snail traveled each second, we need to divide the total distance traveled by the total time.

The snail traveled \(\frac{4}{9}\) of an inch over 4 seconds.

To calculate the distance traveled per second, we can use the formula:

\[ \text{Distance per second} = \frac{\text{Total Distance}}{\text{Total Time}} = \frac{\frac{4}{9}}{4} \]

To divide \(\frac{4}{9}\) by 4, we can rewrite 4 as a fraction:

\[ \frac{4}{9} \div 4 = \frac{4}{9} \div \frac{4}{1} = \frac{4}{9} \times \frac{1}{4} \]

Now we can multiply the fractions:

\[ \frac{4 \times 1}{9 \times 4} = \frac{4}{36} = \frac{1}{9} \]

Therefore, the snail traveled \(\frac{1}{9}\) of an inch each second.

The answer is StartFraction 1 Over 9 EndFraction of an inch.