I'm stuck on this problem in the description

Question

Mr. Chen packed watermelons to ship to the store. He packed 96 watermelons into 12 crates. How many watermelons did Mr. Chen pack in per crate? Justify your answer

Answer 1

Hi Elizabeth;

x=quantity of watermelons in one crate.

(96 watermelons)/(12 crates)=(x)/(1 crate)

The unit of crates is in the denominators of both sides of the equation.  It cancels...

(96 watermelons)/(12 crates)=(x)/(1 crate)

(96 watermelons)/12=x/1

The only unit remaining is watermelons.  This is what we want.

Let's cross-multiply...

(1)(96 watermelons)=(12)(x)

96 watermelons=12x

Let's divide both sides by 12...

(96 watermelons)/12=(12x)/12

8 watermelons=x