FRACTIONS HELP PLEASE

Question

if you place one full container of flour on one pan of a balance scale and a similar container 3/4 full and a 1/3-pound weight on the other pan, the pans balance. How much does the full container of flour weigh

Answer 1

Let w = wt of the bag

(1/3) lb + wt of (3/4) bag = wt of the whole bag, in math terms

(1/3) + (3/4)w = w

(1/4)w = 1/3

w = 4/3(1 1/3) lbs

Answer 2

Say the weight of 1 container of flour is X lbs. From the word problem you know that 1 container of flour is equivalent to 3/4 container of flour plus 1/3 lbs. From this information we can write the following algebraic expression:

X = (3/4)X + 1/3

Now we just solve the algebraic expression for X!

X - (3/4) X = (1/3)

(1/4) * X = (1/3)

4*(1/4)*X = (1/3)*4

X = 4/3 lbs

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