Question

The Liberty Bell, a symbol of freedom in the United States, weighs 2,080 pounds. How many tons does the Liberty Bell weigh?

Answer 1

1.040 ton (US)

Explanation:

1 Short ton (US) = 0.8929 Long ton (UK): ...... 1 Long ton (UK)
`" "darr" "darr`
`" "2000^("lb") ("US")" "2240^("lb")("UK")`

Assuming that as it is the weight of the Liberty Bell we are talking about the US ton

`color(brown)("To convert the given weight in lb we need to divide by how many lb")` `color(brown)("there are in 1 ton.")`

So in fraction form we have `(2080^("lb"))/(2000^("lb")) " tons"`
.............................................................................................................
`color(brown)("You can manipulate the units of measurement in the same way")` `color(brown)("you do the numbers.")`

we divide the given weight in lb by the count of lb in 1 ton. So we have:

`"lb"-: ("lb")/("ton") " "->" " cancel("lb")xx("ton")/(cancel("lb")) " "->" ton"`

So the lb symbols cancel out just leaving the ton symbol
...............................................................................................................

`1/2000` can be written as `1/2xx1/1000`

So we have:

`1/2xx2080/1000" "=" "1/2xx2.080" "=" "1.040" ton"`