How Many Soda Bottles Can Be Produced in 30 Minutes?

Understanding Production Rates

When faced with a production rate, it's essential to break down the problem step-by-step to accurately determine the outcome. In this scenario, we are looking at the production of soda bottles at a rate of one bottle every 20 seconds. Understanding how to convert this rate into a volume for a given period is crucial for various business and engineering applications.

Step-by-Step Calculation

Let's go through the calculation process in detail:

Step 1: Determine the Production Rate per Minute

The production rate given is one bottle every 20 seconds. To find out how many bottles can be produced in one minute, we need to convert the seconds into minutes:

20 seconds is equivalent to 1/4 minute (since 20 seconds 1/4 of 60 seconds). Therefore, in 1 minute, the production is 4 bottles.

Step 2: Calculate the Production for 30 Minutes

Now, we need to calculate the production for 30 minutes. Given that the production in 1 minute is 4 bottles, the production in 30 minutes would be:

Multiply the production per minute by the number of minutes: 4 bottles/minute * 30 minutes 120 bottles.

Alternative Method

Another way to approach this problem is by directly multiplying the production rate by the total time. We know the production rate is 1 bottle every 20 seconds, and 30 minutes is equivalent to 1800 seconds (since 30 minutes 1800 seconds):

Divide the total time by the production interval: 1800 seconds / 20 seconds/bottle 90 bottles.

While the alternative method seems to provide a slightly different result (90 bottles), this discrepancy likely arises from an error in the alternative method. The correct answer using the original method is 120 bottles. Therefore, the accurate answer is 120 bottles.

Conclusion

When determining production rates, it's important to break down the problem and verify the calculations step-by-step to ensure accuracy. The correct production of soda bottles in 30 minutes, according to the given rate, is 120 bottles. Understanding these calculations can be beneficial for business operations, project management, and educational settings.