If a bucket weighs 8 kilograms when full of water and it weighs 4.8 kilograms when half full of water what does it weigh when it is a quarter full of water?

Answer 1

8 kg is the weight of the bucket plus a full bucket of water. 4.8 kg is the weight of the bucket plus half a bucket of water.

1. 8 = b + w
2. 4.8 = b + w/2

Subtract #2 from #1 to get

3.2 = w/2

so

6.4 = w

substitute that into #1 to get 1.6 kg for the bucket.

The question is what is the weight with w/4

1.6 kg for the bucket and (4.8)/4 for the water

1.6 + 1.2 = 2.8 kg ■

Answer 2

When the bucket is half full, it holds 4 kilograms of water. If it weighs 4.8 kilograms at this point, the empty bucket weighs 0.8 kilograms. Since the weight of the water is halved each time, a quarter full bucket would weigh 2.4 kilograms (0.8 kg + 2 kg).