A cherry pitting machine pits 12 pounds of cherries in 3 minutes. At this rate, how many minutes does it

Question

A cherry pitting machine pits 12 pounds of cherries in 3 minutes. At this rate, how many minutes does it take the machine to pit 96 pounds of cherries?

Accepted Answer

Choice C is correct. It's given that the cherry pitting machine pits 12 pounds of cherries in 3 minutes. This rate can be written as 12 &#160; pounds &#160; of &#160; cherries 3 &#160; minutes . If the number of minutes it takes the machine to pit 96 pounds of cherries is represented by x , the value of x can be calculated by solving the equation 12 &#160; pounds &#160; of &#160; cherries 3 &#160; minutes = 96 &#160; pounds &#160; of &#160; cherries x &#160; minutes , which can be rewritten as 12 3 = 96 x , or 4 = 96 x . Multiplying each side of this equation by x yields 4 x = 96 . Dividing each side of this equation by 4 yields x = 24 . Therefore, it takes the machine 24 minutes to pit 96 pounds of cherries. Choice A is incorrect. This is the number of minutes it takes the machine to pit 32 , not 96 , pounds of cherries. Choice B is incorrect. This is the number of minutes it takes the machine to pit 60 , not 96 , pounds of cherries. Choice D is incorrect. This is the number of minutes it takes the machine to pit 144 , not 96 , pounds of cherries.

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