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Study Guides > Mathematics for the Liberal Arts

Assignment: Unit Conversion

  1.  In the US we measure height in feet and inches. In other parts of the world height is measured in meters. Use unit conversions to convert the height of a person who is 5 feet, 10 inches (70 inches) into meters.
  2. 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. Texting while driving: Washington state law*: “a person operating a moving noncommercial motor vehicle who, by means of an electronic wireless communications device, sends, reads, or writes a text message, is guilty of a traffic infraction.” 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. Suppose a car is traveling at 35 miles per hour.(a) Before calculating it, what do you think is the distance the car will travel in 4 seconds? (b) Use dimensional analysis to calculate the distance. If a car is traveling at 45 miles per hour, how far will it travel in 4 seconds?
  4. 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?
  5. (a)If the typical texting response time is between 2 seconds and 6 seconds, and a car is travelling at 35 mph what is the typical distance a car would travel during a typical texting response?(b)Express the answer using inequality symbols (such as < or >).
  6. Before measurements and calculations are done, make a guess for each of the following in the units provided.
    Feet meters
    Length of room
    [latex]\text{ft}^2[/latex]  [latex]\text{m}^2[/latex]
    Area of room
    [latex]\text{ft}^3[/latex]  [latex]\text{m}^3[/latex]
    Volume of room
  7. Measure and record the following information about the classroom. a)Length of this room in meters:  b)Width of this room in meters: c)Height of this room in feet: d)Calculate the area of the floor of this room in square meters.
  8. Length: Use dimensional analysis and the information above to determine these lengths, showing work. (a) Length of this room in feet: (b) Height of this room in meters:
  9. Area: Above you calculated the area of the floor of the room in square meters. Convert that area to square feet using dimensional analysis. Note: There are at least two dimensional analysis ways of doing this. One starts with conversion fractions in linear units. The other uses conversion fractions for area units. Write out both of them.
  10. Volume: Find the volume of this room in cubic feet.
  11. Volume: Use dimensional analysis to convert into cubic meters the volume that you just calculated in cubic feet. Note: There are at least two dimensional analysis ways of doing this. One starts with conversion fractions in linear units. The other uses conversion fractions for volume units. Write out both of them.
  12. Rate: We breathe about 10 liters of air each minute while being fairly still.How many cubic feet of air do we breathe each hour?