High School

Barbara is converting [tex]78^{\circ} F[/tex] to degrees Celsius. First, she subtracts 32 from 78. What is the next step?

A. Multiply 46 by [tex]\frac{5}{9}[/tex]
B. Multiply 46 by [tex]\frac{9}{5}[/tex]
C. Add 273 to 46
D. Subtract 273 from 46

Answer :

To convert a temperature from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius, we use the formula

[tex]$$
C = \frac{5}{9}(F - 32).
$$[/tex]

Given that [tex]$F = 78$[/tex], the first step is to subtract 32 from 78:

[tex]$$
78 - 32 = 46.
$$[/tex]

The next step is to multiply this result, 46, by [tex]$\frac{5}{9}$[/tex]:

[tex]$$
46 \times \frac{5}{9}.
$$[/tex]

This means that the correct next step is to multiply 46 by [tex]$\frac{5}{9}$[/tex].