Karen A.

asked • 08/18/15

A strip of wood 66 inches long is to be cut into 5 1/2 inch pieces. How many pieces can be cut?

It is a word problem

1 Expert Answer

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Michael J. answered • 08/18/15

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Each piece will be the same length.
 
 
We can convert 5 1/2 into an improper fraction.
 
 
5 1/2 = 11 / 2
 
 
Divide 66 by this improper fraction.
 
 
66 / (11 / 2)
 
 
When we divide by a fraction, we multiply by the reciprocal of that fraction.
 
66 * (2 / 11) = 2 * 6 = 12
 
 
12 pieces can be cut.
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Andrew M.

Looking at the units ... we have "inches" and we have  "inches per piece" or "inches/piece"
 
To end up with pieces we   take  (inches)/(inches/piece) = inches(piece/inch) = pieces
Basically, cancel units like fractions to figure out how to end up with the desired units.
In this case divide inches by inches per piece to get pieces.
 
(66 inches)/(5.5 inches/piece) = 12 pieces
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08/19/15

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