Math Problem of the Week - Middle School - July 25, 2021 to July 31, 2021

Middle School: 

Question: An ant is ¹/₁₆ of an inch tall. A middle school student is 4¹/₂ feet tall. The student goes to a learning center that is 54 feet tall. If we scale by height, then how tall would a learning center for ants be?

Answer: ³/₄ of an inch

Solution: The learning center is 54 ÷ 4¹/₂ = 12 times the height of the student. So, the learning center for ants should be 12 times the height of the ant. Since  ¹/₁₆ × 12 = ¹²/₁₆ and ¹²/₁₆ reduces to ³/₄, the learning center for ants would be ³/₄ of an inch tall.