The container that holds water for the football team is 1/3 full. After pouring out 6 gallons of water, it is 1/9 full. How many gallons can it hold

Answer 1

Hi Georgina!

In this problem, you want to create an equation in which you solve for the desired unknown value (the total volume of the container). Let's call the overall volume x. The way you would set up the equation is:

(1/3)*x-6=(1/9)x,

Moving all x terms to the left side of the equation and the constants to the right side, you get:

(1/3)*x - (1/9)*x = 6,

Multiply the 1/3 times 3/3 so you can subtract the two x terms:

(3/9)*x - (1/9)*x = 6, (2/9)x = 6

Then multiply both sides of the equation by 9/2 to solve for x.

Hope this helps!