An automobile manufacturer is preparing a shipment of cars and trucks on a cargo ship that can carry 21,600 tons.
The cars weigh 3.6 tons each and the trucks weigh 7.5 tons each.
1.Write an equation that represents the weight constraint of a shipment. Let c be the number of cars and t be the number of trucks.
2.For one shipment, trucks are loaded first and cars are loaded afterwards. (Even though trucks are bulkier than cars, a shipment can consist of all trucks as long as it is within the weight limit.)
Find the number of cars that can be shipped if the cargo already has:
480 trucks
1,500 trucks
2,736 trucks
t trucks
3.For a different shipment, cars are loaded first, and then trucks are loaded afterwards.
Write an equation you could enter into a calculator or a spreadsheet tool to find the number of trucks that can be shipped if the number of cars is known.
Use your equation and a calculator or a computer to find the number of trucks that can be shipped if the cargo already has 1,000 cars. What if the cargo already has 4,250 cars?
