Seesaw
The Yucaipa Middle School football team had just finished a weight training workout. Before leaving, each of the players stepped up on the scale. Marvin weighed in at 250 lbs., Ali was 100 lbs., Rasheed was 150 lbs., and Pedro was 125 lbs. Leaving practice, these four friends took a shortcut through the neighboring elementary school playground. Marvin spotted a seesaw, sat on one end, and challenged his teammates:
Who can sit on the other side of the seesaw to make it balance?
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Explain in words how to solve this kind of problem in general -- no matter what the weights and distances. All the information you need to solve the problem is given. You may have to read the problem a couple of times and think about the seesaw.
In your explanation, be sure to include the following:
Good Luck Ms. L.
P.S. Happy Birthday Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
In turn, Ali, Rasheed, and Pedro each tried sitting on the seesaw across from Marvin -- and each succeeded.
Then Ali sat by himself on one end and returned the challenge -- and again each succeeded. How did they do it? Explain in words how to solve this kind of problem in general -- no matter what the weights and distances. All the information you need to solve the problem is given. You may have to read the problem a couple of times and think about the seesaw.
In your explanation, be sure to include the following:
1. The two distances from the fulcrum and the weight of the teammate that balanced the seesaw with Marvin on one end.
2. Two more combinations that successfully balanced with Ali.
3. A formula for the general case that you described in your process.
4. Use complete sentences to explain complete thoughts and rich details about the process.
Good Luck Ms. L.
P.S. Happy Birthday Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
