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Worksheet 2.4.6 Unit Conversion Worksheet

1. Height.

In the US we measure height in feet and inches. In other parts of the world height is measured in meters. Use dimensional analysis convert the height of a person who is 5 feet, 10 inches into meters.

2. Weight.

In the US we measure weight in pounds. In other parts of the world weight is measured in kilograms. Use dimensional analysis convert the weight of a person who is 180 pounds into kilograms.

3. Pesticide.

A pesticide is supposed to be diluted in water at the rate of 2 pounds per gallon. Use dimensional analysis convert this to ounces per quart.

Problem Situation: Texting While Driving.

Indiana state law says:

Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), a person may not hold or use a telecommunications device while operating a moving motor vehicle.

(b) A telecommunications device may be used in conjunction with hands free or voice operated technology.

(c) A telecommunications device may be used or held to call 911 to report a bona fide emergency.

Is texting while driving actually a problem? A person might spend only 4 seconds to answer a text. How far would the car go in that time? It depends on the car’s speed.
4.
Suppose a car is traveling at 35 miles per hour. Before calculating, given an educated guess for the distance, in feet, the car will travel in 4 seconds.
5.
Suppose a car is traveling at 35 miles per hour. Use dimensional analysis to calculate the distance, in feet, the car will travel in 4 seconds.
6.
If you are driving in Canada, following the posted speed limit of 80 km/hr, how many feet would you go during the 4 seconds spent texting?
7.

Suppose the typical texting response time is between 2 seconds and 6 seconds. That could be written as a compound inequality for time t as:\(2\leq t \leq6\) seconds.

If a car is travelling at 35 mph what is the typical distance a car would travel during a typical texting response?

Problem Situation 2: Length, Area, Volume.

We can think of our physical world as having 3 dimensions. A length or distance is one dimension. An area is 2 dimensions and a volume is 3 dimensions. Examples of the type of units used for each of these are shown in the table of unit equivalencies.

While helping a friend remodel their house in Canada, you realize you brought your American tape measure. You measure the living room to be 12 feet wide and 14 feet 6 inches long.

8.

To buy baseboard for the remodel, you need to know the length and width of the room in meters (since the local hardware store sells in meter lengths). Convert the width and length of the room to meters. You measure the width as 12 feet and the length as 14 ft and 6 inches.

9.

Flooring is priced by the square meter. To determine how much carpet to buy for the living room, you need to know the area of the room. Find the area in square meters.

10.

To buy an appropriately sized fan for the bathroom, you need to estimate the volume of the room. You measure the bathroom to be 8 ft wide, 10 ft long, with 8 ft tall ceilings. Determine the volume of the bathroom, in cubic meters.

11.

We breathe about 10 liters of air each minute while being fairly still How many cubic feet of air do we breathe each hour?