A dripping faucet wastes a cup of water if it drips for three minutes. The amount of water wasted varies directly with the amount of time the faucet drips. How long will it take for the faucet to waste 4 1/2 cups of water?

13.5 minutes (13 minutes and 30 seconds)

Explanation:

In this problem, you are given the rate of which the water drips at which can be used to find the time of any amount of water that has dripped if using a ratio.

Drip rate: 3 min / 1 cup

If we set up a ratio, we can use X for the time it takes to waste 4 1/2 cups of water:

3 min / 1 cup = X min / 4 1/2 cups

Then, cross multiply to solve:

1*X=3*4 1/2

Simplify for the answer:

X = 13 1/2 minutes

(13 minutes and 30 seconds)