As a member of FEMA, you’re required to set up a contingency plan to supply meals to residents of a town devastated by a tornado. A breakfast ration weighs 12 ounces and the lunch and dinner rations weigh 18 ounces each. Assuming a food truck can carry 3 tons and that each resident will receive 3 meals per day, how many residents can you feed from one truck during a 10-day period?

One ton = 2,000 pounds, so one truck can carry 6,000 pounds. There are 16 ounces in a pound, so one truck can carry 96,000 ounces. The total daily ration for each resident is 12 ounces + 18 ounces + 18 ounces, or 48 ounces. The number of daily rations supplied can be expressed as 96,000 ÷ 48 = 2,000. Dividing 2,000 by 10 days results in 200 residents who can be fed by one truck during this 10-day period.