Question

Part A: Explain why we do not measure the rate at which a sprinkler waters a lawn in cubic feet per minute? In your explanation, use reasoning based on appropriate units to model this situation.

Part B: What are the two quantities that should be measured to find the rate at which a sprinkler waters a lawn? Explain how the rate can be determined. @mathstudent55 @kainui

Answer 1

A cubic foot has a volume that corresponds to approximately 7.5 gallons.
A sprinkler sprays a small amount of water per minute.
It would take along time for a sprinkler to actually use up 1 cubic foot of water, so if you used cubic feet per minute, you'd be dealing with very small numbers.

Answer 2

If you need the actual flow rate for a sprinkler, you need a container and a stopwatch.
The container must be labeled with a known volume, such as a quart or a gallon.
You let the sprinkler fill up the container to the marked level, and you time it. Then using the volume of water and the time, you can find a unit rate of water flow through that sprinkler.

Answer 3

So, the answer for part A would be that we do not measure the rate at which a sprinkler waters a lawn in cubic feet per minute because cubic feet is the inappropriate unit if using minutes for the time, and instead gallons per minute would would be a better fit? As for Part B, volume divided by time (in this case, gallons per minute) can be used to find the rate?

Answer 4

Yes and yes.

Answer 5

Thank you!

Answer 6

You're welcome.