document.write( "Question 40677: Can someone help me with this question?\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " Describe a simple process for using rates and unit prices that can help someone having difficulty understanding these concepts. Include an example explaining the solution process.
\n" ); document.write( " Thanks,
\n" ); document.write( " Sher \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #26199 by astromathman(21)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If 50 widgits cost $100, the \"rate\" is the cost of a single widgit. This is found by dividing the number of dollars by the number of widgits. The answer is $2 per widgit. Think of laying out all the widgits and distributing the dollars evenly over all the widgits. We have $100 to distribute and we need to divide it up into 50 piles, so \"%28%22%24100%22%29%2F%2850+widgits%29\" tells us how much is in each pile. Remember that \"$2 per widgit\" means \"$2 for each widgit.\" In this case the number comes out evenly (i.e. 2). Usually the division will result in a fraction or decimal, but the process is the same.\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "As a simple rule you can think of the word \"per\" as a signal to divide. If you want the dollars per pound of dog food, divide the number of dollars by the number of pounds of dog foot. If you want miles per hour, divide the number of miles drivin by the number of hours it took to drive that far. If you want the flow rate of a garden hose in gallons per minute, fill a container of known size and divide the number of gallons by the number of minutes it took to fill it.\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "You can represent division as a fraction. \"1%2F2\" means 1 divided by 2. A rate can thus be represented as a fraction too: \"%28%22%24100%22%29%2F%2850+widgits%29=%22%242%22%2Fwidgit\". A fraction is also called a \"ratio.\" That is the origin of the word \"rate.\" \n" ); document.write( "
\n" );