mathimatics slash

Question

mr johnston bought a block of fudge that weighed 3 1/2 pounds. he cut the fudge into 5 equal pices. what was the weight of each piece of fudge?

Answer 1

Mr. Johnston bought a block of fudge that weighed 3 1/2 pounds. He cut the fudge into 5 equal pieces. What was the weight of each piece of fudge?

There are a couple ways to do this, please see both and use the one you understand the best:

Using just fractions.

1. Turn 3 ½ into an improper fraction and put the 5 over 1.
2. 7/2 ÷ 5/1
3. Copy-Dot-Flop: copy the first fraction, turn division into multiplication and switch the numbers in the second fraction (called a reciprocal).
4. 7/2 ∗ 1/5 = 7/10 pounds (it’s already in simplest form)

Using decimals.

1. Turn 3 ½ into an decimal by dividing 1 by 2 and adding it to 3:
2. 3 + ½ = 3.5
3. Divide 3.5 by 5 (I suggest using a calculator).
4. 3.5 ÷ 5 = 0.7 pounds

7/10 pounds is the same as 0.7 pounds