General Question

chelle21689's avatar

How do I find the BMI of a person's weight by a variation formula?

Asked by chelle21689 (7907points) October 31st, 2010

I know that direct variation is y=kx, inverse variation is y=k/x, and joint variation is y=kxz

I’m having issues setting up this problem because it uses the words “inverse” and “direct”.

“BMI is used by physicians to assess a person’s level of fatness. BMI varies directly as an individual’s weight in pounds and inversley as the square of the individual’s height in inches. A person who weights 118 pounds and is 64 inches tall has a BMI of 20. (BMI rounded to nearest whole number). Find the BMI of a person who weighs 165 pounds and is 72 inches tall.”

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4 Answers

LuckyGuy's avatar

It’s not a linear equation. It’s BMI = M/h^2 where M is Mass in kg, and h is height in meters.

I’ll leave it to you to work out the constants of the English system.

chelle21689's avatar

Thanks, I’ll try it.

YARNLADY's avatar

Discuss this with your doctor, he/she can help you toward your goal.

chelle21689's avatar

It’s actually BMI=K(weight/height^2)

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