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RUNNING HEAD: Week 2 Assignment

Body Mass Index

Tonja Johnson
MAT 221: Introduction to Algebra
WEEK 1 Assignment
Olga Tsareva
November 17, 2013

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Week 2 Assignment
Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI), is calculated by first, dividing one's weight in kilograms by the
square of one's height in meters and used as an indicator of obesity and underweight. It
may also determine if one might have a longer life span than average, if one is
overweight or not, and if one is obese. The formula for Body Mass Index or BMI can be
found on pg. 151 of our text, which is
BMI = 703W
H2
Where W = ones weight in pounds, and H = ones height in inches.

I was asked to calculate four intervals based on my own height, which is 64 inches. The
specified intervals include three compound between inequalities, and one regular
inequality. Wherever I see BMI in the inequalities, I will substitute the formula and
solve the inequality for W to specify the weight ranges which fit each category for my
height.

The first interval shows who may have a longer life span than average. The compound
inequality for this is:
17 < BMI < 22
17 < 703W < 22
H2

This is an equivalent inequality replacing BMI with the formula.

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Week 2 Assignment
17 < 703W < 22
642
17 <

H2 has been replaced by my height in inches.

703W

< 22

4096

The next step I multiply all three terms by the denominator.

17(4096) < 703W(4096) < 22(4096)

I cancel out 4096.

4096

17(4096) < 703W < 22(4096).

99.04 < W< 128.18

Then divide all sides by 703.

This is what I end up with.

People of height 65 inches might have a longer than average life span if they weight
between 99 lbs and 128 lbs.

Now I am going to do something different. I am going to solve the second inequality

formula for W before I plug in the values to find W.

23 < 703W < 25

First, multiply all terms by H2 to take it out of the denominator.

H2
23H2 < 703W < 25H2

Divide all terms by 703 to isolate W.

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Week 2 Assignment
23H2 < W < 25H2
703

703

This is an equivalent inequality to solve for the second weight

interval.

I will now plug in my height squared (4096) to find the second weight interval.
23(4096) < W < 25(4096)
703

Multiply numerators and divide by denominator.

70

134.00 < W < 145.66 or 146

This is my answer.

People of height 65 inches who weigh between 134lbs and 146 lbs are probably not
overweight.

The method that I am going to use now is much more efficient than the first method so I
will use it to find the next two intervals as well. The third weight interval indicates the
range for probably overweight for this height. I will plug 25.1 and 29.9 into the above
compound inequality in place of 23 and 25.

25.1(4096) < W < 29.9(4096)

703

146.24 < W < 174.21

Multiply numerators and divide by denominator.

703

This is my answer.

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Week 2 Assignment
People of height 65 inches who weigh between 146 and 174 are probably overweight.

The fourth weight interval indicates the range for those who are obese at this height.
This is not a compound inequality so I only need to use the middle and right terms of
the basic inequality with the opposite pointing arrow and substitute 30 for 29.9.

W 30(4096

Multiply numerator and divide by the denominator

703
W > 174.79 or 175

This is my answer.

People of height 65 inches who weigh 175 or above are most likely obese and would
benefit from some serious life-style changes. Although this interval theoretically extends
to positive infinity, we know that the weight of a human is eventually self-limiting.

So in conclusion, remember that in order to find out the BMI, plug in the values for
height in inches and weight in pounds in the formula. Match the number to the specific
interval to know which category the person falls in. BMI can be misleading because there
is no guarantee that a person will live longer than usual because you just never know
what might happen. Death occurs from many other issues such as accidents, diseases,
which may include cancer, HIV etc. We would have to come up with a more concrete
formula to take in account of the possible factors in order for the BMI to be accurate.

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Week 2 Assignment

Reference:
Dugopolski, M. (2012). Elementary and intermediate algebra. The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. New York, NY 10020