Area with conversions between systems, rounded up, and costed
Same three parts as its U.S. Customary sibling, but the conversion crosses systems. The factor is 30.48 rather than 12, the intermediate numbers get ugly, and ALEKS tells you not to round them.
Every step of Area with conversions between systems, rounded up, and costed explained on video. Pause anywhere; the embed scrolls independently of the page.
ALEKS randomizes the numbers each attempt, but the question shape stays the same. Here are three example versions you might see.
A mat measures 4 ft by 2 ft.
What is its area in square centimetres? Round to two decimal places. Use 1 ft = 30.48 cm.
A tile is 10 in by 8 in.
What is its area in square centimetres? Round to two decimal places. Use 1 in = 2.54 cm.
A bed has an area of 9,300 cm². Each bag of gravel covers 1,200 cm² and partial bags cannot be bought.
How many bags are needed? Type just the number.
Milan’s rectangular flower bed measures 5 ft long and 3 ft wide. He wants to cover it in mulch. He knows the area each bag covers, but only in square centimetres.
(a) Find the area in square centimetres. Do not round intermediate computations; round the final answer to two decimal places.
(b) Each bag covers 900 cm² and partial bags cannot be bought. How many whole bags?
(c) Each bag costs $3.85. What does he spend?
Conversion facts: 1 inch = 2.54 cm; 1 foot = 30.48 cm; 1 yard ≈ 0.91 m; 1 mile ≈ 1.61 km.
Convert both sides
The area
Whole bags
The cost
What rounding early would have cost
Round the sides to whole centimetres first — 152 and 91 — and the area comes to 13,832 cm². Divide by 900 and you get 15.37, which still rounds up to 16, so this particular version survives.
Other versions do not. When the true figure sits just above a whole number of bags and the rounded one sits just below, early rounding changes the answer to parts (b) and (c) both. That is why ALEKS spells out “do not round intermediate computations” on this question and not on its U.S. Customary sibling.