Weighing Bubble Gum

Date: 01/30/98 at 14:27:27
From: Mrs. Heather
Subject: Algebra 1

What measurement would I use to measure a bubble gum stick?  A 
decigram, decagram, gram, or kilogram?  (I never was good at 
measurements.)

Thank you for your time.

Date: 02/01/98 at 22:42:36
From: Doctor Jaffee
Subject: Re: Algebra 1

Greetings Mrs. Heather,

There are several approaches you can take.  I know that a raisin 
weighs approximately 1 gram, so if you weigh a stick of bubble gum you 
might get something like 1.6 grams. A decigram is 1/10 of a gram, so 
the same piece of bubble gum would weigh 16 decigrams. A decagram is 
equivalent to 10 grams, so 0.16 decagrams would be the weight, and a 
kilogram is 1000 grams, so our stick of bubble gum would weigh 0.0016 
kg. I would go with grams, but that's strictly a personal preference.

Thanks for writing and I hope this has helped. 

-Doctor Jaffee,  The Math Forum
 Check out our web site!  http://mathforum.org/dr.math/