Question

a candle is burning at a linear rate. The candle measures five inches two minutes after it was lit. It measures three inches eight minutes after it was lit. What was the original length of the candle?​

Answer 1

5 2/3 inches.

Explanation:

8-2=6 minutes and 5-3=2 inches so it lost 2 inches in 6 minutes. This means it loses an inch every three minutes. Since we have to go back by 2 minutes we will have to figure out how much length we have to add to the candle to figure out how long it was originally by multiplying by 2/3 as 2 inches is 2/3 the required to remove an inch, so 1 inch * 2/3 = 2/3 of an inch. Add that to the length at two minutes and we have 5 2/3 inches as its original size.