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The distance an object falls is directly proportional to the square of the time it falls. A ball falls 144 feet in 3 seconds.

Write the equation that relates the distance to the time.
How far will an object fall in 4 seconds?

d = 16 t 2 256 feet

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The area of a circle varies directly as the square of the radius. A circular pizza with a radius of 6 inches has an area of 113.04 square inches.

  1. Write the equation that relates the area to the radius.
  2. What is the area of a pizza with a radius of 9 inches?

A = 3.14 r 2 254.34 square inches

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Solve inverse variation problems

Many applications involve two variable that vary inversely . As one variable increases, the other decreases. The equation that relates them is y = k x .

Inverse variation

For any two variables x and y , y varies inversely with x if

y = k x , where k 0

The constant k is called the constant of variation.

The word ‘inverse’ in inverse variation refers to the multiplicative inverse. The multiplicative inverse of x is 1 x .

We solve inverse variation problems in the same way we solved direct variation problems. Only the general form of the equation has changed. We will copy the procedure box here and just change ‘direct’ to ‘inverse’.

Solve inverse variation problems.

  1. Write the formula for inverse variation.
  2. Substitute the given values for the variables.
  3. Solve for the constant of variation.
  4. Write the equation that relates x and y.

If y varies inversely with x and y = 20 when x = 8 , find the equation that relates x and y .

Solution

Write the formula for inverse variation. .
Substitute the given values for the variables. .
.
Solve for the constant of variation. .
.
Write the equation that relates x and y . .
Substitute in the constant of variation. .

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If p varies inversely with q and p = 30 when q = 12 find the equation that relates p and q .

p = 360 q

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If y varies inversely with x and y = 8 when x = 2 find the equation that relates x and y .

y = 16 x

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The fuel consumption (mpg) of a car varies inversely with its weight. A car that weighs 3100 pounds gets 26 mpg on the highway.

  1. Write the equation of variation.
  2. What would be the fuel consumption of a car that weighs 4030 pounds?

Solution


The fuel consumption varies inversely with the weight.
First we will name the variables. Let f = fuel consumption.
w = weight
Write the formula for inverse variation. .
We will use f in place of y and w in place of x . .
Substitute the given values for the variables. .
.
Solve for the constant of variation. .
.
Write the equation that relates f and w . .
Substitute in the constant of variation. .


Find f when w = 4030 . Write the equation that relates f and w . f = 80,600 w Substitute the given value for w . f = 80,600 4030 Simplify. f = 20 A car that weighs 4030 pounds would have fuel consumption of 20 mpg.

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A car’s value varies inversely with its age. Elena bought a two-year-old car for $20,000.

Write the equation of variation.
What will be the value of Elena’s car when it is 5 years old?

v = 40,000 a $8,000

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The time required to empty a pool varies inversely as the rate of pumping. It took Lucy 2.5 hours to empty her pool using a pump that was rated at 400 gpm (gallons per minute).

  1. Write the equation of variation.
  2. How long will it take her to empty the pool using a pump rated at 500 gpm?

t = 1000 r 2 hours

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Source:  OpenStax, Elementary algebra. OpenStax CNX. Jan 18, 2017 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12116/1.2
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