SOLUTION: We are told by geographers that the length of a river is approximately proportional to the 0.6th power of the basin of land that it drains. Expressed as a formula, this is {{{L=k*A

Question 876268: We are told by geographers that the length of a river is approximately proportional to the 0.6th power of the basin of land that it drains. Expressed as a formula, this is , where L is the length of the river in kilometres and k is a non-zero constant.
a) The Rio Grande drains a basin about and is 3034 km long. Find k to three decimal places and write L as a function of A.
b)Find to the nearest kilometre, the length of a river that drains a basin of about .
Answer by rothauserc(4718) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
L = k * A^0.6
a) L = 3034 and A = 500000
k = 3034 / (500000^0.6)
k = 1.155
L = 1.155 * A^0.6
b) L = 1.155 * 20000^0.6
L = 439.744
L = 440 kilometres

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