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Question: What is Unitary Method ?

Answer:

This is a method of carrying out a calculation to find the value of a number of items by first finding the cost of one of them.

For example, suppose that 3 tennis balls cost $5.52 and we need to find the cost of 5 tennis balls. We can find first find the cost of 1 ball as $5.52 / 3 = $1.84, then of the 5 balls by $1.84 x 5 = £9.20.

The same approach can be used to find how far a train will travel in 25 minutes if in 8 minutes it covers 11.2 miles, assuming it travels at the same speed. In 1 minute the train travels 11.2 ÷ 8 = 1.4 miles, so in 25 minutes it will travel 1.4 x 25 = 35 miles. For instance if we know that a and b are proportional to one another, and that when a = 7, b = 10, and we are required to find the value of a when b = 7, then we may proceed as follows: a = 7 when b = 10, so a = 7/10 when b = 1, so a = 49/10 when b = 7. This is called a unitary method.