1959 AHSME Problems/Problem 20

Revision as of 18:28, 8 July 2023 by Lli (talk | contribs) (Created page with "It is given that <math>x</math> varies directly as <math>y</math> and inversely as the square of <math>z</math>, and that <math>x=10</math> when <math>y=4</math> and <math>z=1...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

It is given that $x$ varies directly as $y$ and inversely as the square of $z$, and that $x=10$ when $y=4$ and $z=14$. Then, when $y=16$ and $z=7$, $x$ equals:

$\textbf{(A)}\ 180\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 160\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 154\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 140\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 120$

Solution 1:

$x$ varies directly to $\frac{y}{z^2}$ (The inverse variation of y and the square of z)

We can write the expression

$x = \frac{ky}{z^2}$

Now we plug in the values of $x=10$ when $y=4$ and $z=14$.

This gives us $k=490$

We can use this to find the value of $x$ when $y=4$ and $z=14$

$x=\frac{490\cdot4}{14^2}$

Simplifying this we get,

$\box B) 160$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)