Jasmine bought 32 kiwi fruit for $16. How many kiwi can Lisa buy if she has $4?

Question

In this problem, we are presented with an example of how much of something, in this case kiwi, can be bought with a certain amount of money, here that is $16. We are also asked how many kiwi can be buy for a different amount, $4.

We will solve this by reasoning through the relationship between kiwi fruit and cost via proportion.

To solve this by proportion, we must understand the relationships present. We are able to bunch half the problem together and the other half into its own part. On one part we have $16 for 32 kiwi fruit. This can be represented as 16/32. On the other part of the problem, we have $4 for an unknown (variable x) amount of kiwi fruit. This can be represented as 4/x.

Now, these two equations relate because the price of kiwi fruit remains consistent, and so we can discern the amount we can buy with $4 through a process called cross multiplication.

So lets set up our equation.

16/32 = 4/x, simplified is 1/2 = 4/x

here, we multiply the numerator across by the denominator of the other

1x = 4*2

1x is equal to x, and 4*2 is 8.

x = 8

Answer 1

32/4= 8

with $4 she can buy 8 kiwi