1988 AHSME Problems/Problem 7

Problem

Estimate the time it takes to send $60$ blocks of data over a communications channel if each block consists of $512$ "chunks" and the channel can transmit $120$ chunks per second.

$\textbf{(A)}\ 0.04 \text{ seconds}\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 0.4 \text{ seconds}\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 4 \text{ seconds}\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 4\text{ minutes}\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 4\text{ hours}$

Solution 1

We want to figure out the number of chunks in $60$ blocks, so we have $60\cdot 512 \approx 30000$. We divide this by $120$ to determine the number of seconds necessary to transmit. $30000/120 \approx 250$, which means that it takes approximately $4$ minutes to transmit. Thus, the answer is $\boxed{\text{D}}$.

Solution 2

This solution is if you are running out of time and just want to write down an answer. So, this is quite unreliable. You can logic it out. It doesn't make sense for the first three options to be the answer since that is way too quick. The last option is way too long. That just leaves $\boxed{\text{D}}$.

See also

1988 AHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
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