If a mother rat is twice as long as her offspring how many times bigger is the mother's weight and surface area?
Please help me! If you can figure it out tell me how you did it as well as the answer because otherwise I'll just be as confused!
2007-02-05 13:42:18 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Assuming her proportions and density are the same as that of her offspring, then the volume and weight are 8 times as large, but the surface area is only 4 times as large.
Just imagine that we're talking about cubes instead of rats.
Say, the baby cube is 1 x 1 x 1, and the mother cube is
2 x 2 x 2. Then the mother's volume is 8 times the baby
cube's volume. Now look at the surface area. Each cube has
six sides, so the surface area of the baby cube is
6 x (1 x 1) = 6, while the surface area of the mother cube is
6 x (2 x 2) = 24 (or 4 times larger).
2007-02-05 13:52:28 · answer #1 · answered by Andrew 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The question is unanswerable with that amount of data. Surface area is dependent on more that the length of the rat. It also depends on the width. How fat are the rats? We don't know.
If this question is in your math book I would look to see if there is any mention of rats and average circumferance per length. There might also be a mention of average weight per length. Without this information, there is no way to solve the problem.
It would be like asking to figure out the weight and surface area of a child who is 1/2 as tall as it's mother, without any other information.
2007-02-05 14:01:44 · answer #2 · answered by Smartassawhip 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Basically you figure that they have the same shape, but all their dimensions (length, width and height) are doubled in the mother. So since volume comes in cubic units her volume is (doubled )cubed or 2^3 = 8 times the baby's volume so her weight would be 8 times as much. Similarly area comes in square units so her surface area is (doubled) squared, or 4 times as much.
2007-02-05 13:53:46 · answer #3 · answered by hayharbr 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go here. It's an interactive site that should help you understand the relationship of length to surface are and volume (from which you can infer the weight). With rats. you may have to treat the tail separately!
2007-02-05 13:51:32 · answer #4 · answered by thylawyer 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Two, I'm pretty sure. Twice as long as something is usually two times the weight. Although, it might be a trick question, without an answer on not enough information. But if you were to put down an answer, I would say two.
2007-02-05 13:50:53 · answer #5 · answered by monstaro 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
need more information to answer this question i think. Like how long are the offspring?
2007-02-05 13:46:32 · answer #6 · answered by hottie20 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
2 x / xy= xy that is your answer. Think about it.
2007-02-05 13:55:59 · answer #7 · answered by ELIUT P 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋