Middle School

The number of kilograms of water in a human body varies directly as the mass of the body. An 84-kg person contains 56 kg of water. How many kilograms of water are in a 72-kg person?

Answer :

Answer:

The answer is 48 kg of water

Step-by-step explanation:

If kg of water varies directly with kg of human body

84 kg p = 56 kg w

72 kg p = ? kg w

If we cross multiply, we will have

? 84 = 56*72

? 84 = 4032

Divide both side by 84 to get the value of the unknown ?

? = 4032/84

? = 48 kg of water

Final answer:

To find the amount of water in a 72-kg person, we first determine the constant of proportionality by dividing 56 kg by 84 kg, which equals 2/3. Multiplying this constant by the mass of the 72-kg person gives us 48 kg, which is the amount of water in that person.

Explanation:

The question involves a direct variation, where the number of kilograms of water in a human body directly relates to the mass of the body. Given that an 84-kg person contains 56 kg of water, we can find the constant of proportionality (k) by dividing the weight of water by the mass of the person: k = 56 kg ÷ 84 kg = 2/3. Now, to find the number of kilograms of water in a 72-kg person, we multiply their mass by the constant of proportionality: water in 72-kg person = (2/3) × 72 kg.

Calculating this we get:

Water in 72-kg person = 48 kg.

So a 72-kg person would contain 48 kg of water.