For laying 1.5 miles of water main, how many 20-foot sections of pipe will it take?

To determine how many 20-foot sections of pipe are needed for 1.5 miles of water main, it's important to convert miles to feet. One mile is equal to 5,280 feet, so 1.5 miles can be calculated as:

1.5 miles x 5,280 feet/mile = 7,920 feet.

Now, to find out how many 20-foot sections are needed, we can divide the total number of feet by the length of each section:

7,920 feet ÷ 20 feet/section = 396 sections.

This calculation confirms that 396 is the correct amount of 20-foot sections needed to lay 1.5 miles of water main. It reflects the direct relationship between the total distance and the uniform length of pipe sections being used in construction.