Renna pushes the elevator button, but the elevator does not move. The mass limit for the elevator is 450 kg, but Renna and her load of identical packages mass a total of 620 kg. Each package has a mass of 37.4 kg. Write in any quality to determine the number of packages, P, Renna removed from the elevator to meet the mass requirement.

1 answer

Let's denote the number of packages Renna removes from the elevator as P. Since each package has a mass of 37.4 kg, the total mass of the packages that Renna removes is 37.4P kg.

If Renna's total mass with the packages was 620 kg, and she removes P packages, the total mass in the elevator after removing the packages should be 620 - 37.4P kg.

According to the mass limit for the elevator being 450 kg, we have:

620 - 37.4P ≤ 450

Solving for P:

620 - 37.4P ≤ 450
170 ≤ 37.4P
P ≥ 4.55

Since Renna cannot have a fraction of a package, she must remove at least 5 packages to meet the mass requirement of the elevator.