algebra word problem

Question

The baseball team made some pies to sell during lunch to raise money for an end-of-year banquet. The cafeteria contributed two pies to the club. Each pie was then cut into four pieces and sold. There were a total of 36 pieces to sell, how many pies did the club make?

Answer 1

Since we know that each pie was cut into 4 pieces and there are 36 pieces, we can use unit analysis (concept that comes up often in chemistry) to find the number of pies. 4 pieces/1 pie. We want the units to divide out so 36 pieces x 1 pie/4 pieces will give us 9 pies since the top and bottom had pieces in them which could be crossed off. The answer will be 9 pies.

Answer 2

1 pie = 4 pieces

36 pieces / 4 pieces = 9 pies

Thus the club made 9 pies.

Answer 3

But 2 was contributed by the cafeteria

So the club originally made 9 - 2 = 7 pies