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Difference between revisions of "1961 AHSME Problems/Problem 15"
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Dimensional analysis is definitely the most rigid, but if you know the ending units (e.g. you know that density is measured in <math>g/cm^2</math> or something like that, you can just treat is as simple proportions and equations.
 
Dimensional analysis is definitely the most rigid, but if you know the ending units (e.g. you know that density is measured in <math>g/cm^2</math> or something like that, you can just treat is as simple proportions and equations.
 +
 +
~hastapasta
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 12:06, 4 February 2022

Problem

If $x$ men working $x$ hours a day for $x$ days produce $x$ articles, then the number of articles (not necessarily an integer) produced by $y$ men working $y$ hours a day for $y$ days is:

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{x^3}{y^2}\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac{y^3}{x^2}\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac{x^2}{y^3}\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac{y^2}{x^3}\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ y$

Solution 1

Let $k$ be the number of articles produced per hour per person. By using dimensional analysis, \[\frac{x \text{ hours}}{\text{day}} \cdot x \text{ days} \cdot \frac{k \text{ articles}}{\text{hours} \cdot \text{person}} \cdot x \text{ people} = x \text{ articles}\] Solving this yields $k = \frac{1}{x^2}$. Using dimensional analysis again, the number of articles produced by $y$ men working $y$ hours a day for $y$ days is \[\frac{y \text{ hours}}{\text{day}} \cdot y \text{ days} \cdot \frac{\frac{1}{x^2} \text{ articles}}{\text{hours} \cdot \text{person}} \cdot y \text{ people} = \frac{y^3}{x^2} \text{ articles}\] The answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(B)}}$.

Solution 2 (Simple logic)

The question is based on the assumption that each person, each hour, each day, will be produce a constant number of items (maybe fractional).

So it takes $x$ men $x$ hours to produce $\frac{x}{x}=1$ item in a day.

In a similar manner, 1 man, 1 hour, for a day, can produce $\frac{1}{x^2}$ items. So $y$ men, $y$ hours a day, for $y$ days produce $\frac{y^3}{x^2}$ items. Therefore, the answer is $\boxed{B}$.

Dimensional analysis is definitely the most rigid, but if you know the ending units (e.g. you know that density is measured in $g/cm^2$ or something like that, you can just treat is as simple proportions and equations.

~hastapasta

See Also

1961 AHSC (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 14 		Followed by
Problem 16
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40
All AHSME Problems and Solutions


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