Jennifer B.

asked • 08/31/15

Bryan was given...

Brian was given a piece of wire 3 1/2 m long. He had to cut it into smaller pieces of wire, each 7/8 m long. How many smaller pieces of wire did he have in the end? 
(Ex:
#of days/loaves of bread
1- 10 
2-20
3-30 etc... Etc...

1 Expert Answer

By:

Mark M. answered • 08/31/15

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Brian wants to divide 3 1/2 piece into pieces 7/8 of a meter
 
(3 1/2) ÷ 7/8            change first fraction into improper form
7/2 ÷ 7/8                  dividing by a fraction can be done my multiplying by the inverse
7/2 · 8/7                   reduce
8/2                           reduce
4
 
Brian can get 4 pieces
 
Check
 
7/8 + 7/8 + 7/8 + 7/8
28/8
3 2/8
3 1/2
 
 
 
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Jennifer B.

It's a pattern problem. The example it gave me in the beginning of the section was: 
a baker can bake 10 loaves of bread in a day. If he bakes the same number of loaves of bread each day, find the total number of loaves of bread he bakes in a week. Then there's a table and one side says Number of days which has 1- 7 listed and the other side says loaves of bread which has 10-70 (by 10s). It was multiplied but I don't understand how do this with fractions. 
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08/31/15

Mark M.

"Since the cuts were in 8ths, changing the 3 1/2 to 8ths helps: 3 /12 = 28/8
Perhaps the "check" could give you an idea:
Cut 1: 7/8
Cut 2: 7/8 + 7/8 = 14/8
Cut 3: 7/8 + 7/8 + 7/8 = 21/8
Cut 4: 7/8 + 7/8 + 7/8 + 7/8 = 28/8 or 3 1/2
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09/01/15

Jennifer B.

Thank you 
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09/02/15

Mark M.

You are welcome!
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09/02/15

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