If it takes 24 minutes to cut a log into 4 pieces, how long would it take to cut the same log into 6 pieces?

Question

My original answer was 36, but now it's 40. I'm torn inbetween the two and I need some help.

Answer 1

Hi Raphael,

You asked: "If it takes 24 minutes to cut a log into 4 pieces, how long would it take to cut the same log into 6 pieces?"

Let's think about how many cuts it would take to turn the log into x pieces. To turn a whole log into 2 pieces, requires one cut. For three pieces, you need two cuts, and for four pieces, you need three cuts.

If it took 24 minutes to cut the log into four pieces, how many minutes per cut was required?

24 min/3 cuts = 8 min/cut

Now, you have a log that is already in 4 separate pieces. How many more cuts must you make to turn the same four-piece log into 6 pieces? If you make one more cut, how many total pieces will you have? If you make two more cuts, how many total pieces will you have? Draw a picture if necessary.

Now, use your 8 minutes per cut calculation to find the total amount of time you would spend cutting the log.

I hope that helps. Please upvote this answer if it was useful to you.