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Ch.1 - Matter, Measurement & Problem Solving
Chapter 1, Problem 102

Total U.S. farmland occupies 954 million acres. How many square miles is this? (1 acre = 43,560 ft2, 1 mi = 5280 ft). Total U.S. land area is 3.537 million square miles. What percentage of U.S. land is farmland?

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1
Convert acres to square feet using the conversion factor: 1 acre = 43,560 ft^2.
Convert square feet to square miles using the conversion factors: 1 mile = 5280 feet, so 1 square mile = (5280 ft)^2.
Calculate the total square miles of farmland by dividing the total square feet of farmland by the number of square feet in a square mile.
Determine the percentage of U.S. land that is farmland by dividing the farmland area in square miles by the total U.S. land area in square miles and multiplying by 100.
Express the final result as a percentage to understand the proportion of U.S. land that is farmland.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Unit Conversion

Unit conversion is the process of converting a quantity expressed in one set of units to another. In this question, we need to convert acres to square miles using the conversion factors provided: 1 acre equals 43,560 square feet, and 1 square mile equals 5,280 feet on each side. Understanding how to apply these conversions is essential for accurately calculating the area of farmland in square miles.
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Conversion Factors

Area Calculation

Area calculation involves determining the size of a two-dimensional space. In this context, we calculate the total area of U.S. farmland in square miles after converting from acres. This requires multiplying the number of acres by the conversion factor to find the equivalent area in square miles, which is a fundamental skill in geometry and measurement.
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Percentage Calculation

Percentage calculation is a mathematical operation used to express a number as a fraction of 100. To find the percentage of U.S. land that is farmland, we divide the area of farmland (in square miles) by the total U.S. land area (also in square miles) and then multiply by 100. This concept is crucial for understanding proportions and comparisons in data analysis.
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