If it takes 20 seconds for a machine to fill three water bottles, how many bottles will it fill in 3 minutes? a) 21 b) 18 c) 28 d) 27 e) 15 (i) Message

To solve the problem, we need to determine how many water bottles the machine can fill in 3 minutes, given that it takes 20 seconds to fill 3 bottles. ### Step 1: Calculate the rate of filling bottles First, we find the rate at which the machine fills the bottles. - The machine fills 3 bottles in 20 seconds. - Therefore, the rate of filling is: \[ \text{Rate} = \frac{3 \text{ bottles}}{20 \text{ seconds}} = 0.15 \text{ bottles/second} \] ### Step 2: Convert 3 minutes to seconds Next, we convert 3 minutes into seconds: \[ 3 \text{ minutes} = 3 \times 60 = 180 \text{ seconds} \] ### Step 3: Calculate the total number of bottles filled in 180 seconds Now, we can calculate how many bottles the machine will fill in 180 seconds: \[ \text{Total bottles} = \text{Rate} \times \text{Time} = 0.15 \text{ bottles/second} \times 180 \text{ seconds} \] Calculating this gives: \[ \text{Total bottles} = 0.15 \times 180 = 27 \text{ bottles} \] ### Conclusion The machine will fill **27 bottles** in 3 minutes. Thus, the correct answer is: **d) 27**.