Video Transcript
Michael wants to sign up for
his school’s sports competition. In order to be accepted, he has
to be able to run 400 meters in one minute. Michael took 20 seconds to run
100 meters. If he could run at the same
rate, would he qualify to take part?
We’re told in the question that
Michael needs to be able to run 400 meters in one minute. If we write this as a ratio of
time in minutes to distance in meters, this would be one to 400. We’re also told that Michael
can run 100 meters in 20 seconds. There are 60 seconds in one
minute. And 20 multiplied by three is
equal to 60. Multiplying 100 by three gives
us 300. So, if Michael runs at the same
rate, he will cover 300 meters in 60 seconds. This ratio of time in minutes
to distance in meters is one to 300.
As Michael needed to cover a
distance of 400 meters in one minute, the correct answer is no. He would not qualify to take
part. Writing any ratio in this form,
one to 𝑛, is known as the unit ratio or unit rate. For every one unit, or minute
in this case, of time, we can see the distance in meters that Michael
covered.
