Question

A custodian plans to repaint some classroom bookcase.she has 5 1/4 gallons of paint.all the bookcases are the same size and each requires 3/4 gallon of paint.How many bookcases will the custodian be able to repaint with the amount of paint?

Answer 1

5 1/4 divided by 3/4 gets you 7.

The custodian will be able to paint 7 bookcases with the amount of paint there is.

Answer 2

The custodian will be able to repaint 7 bookcases with the amount of paint.

Explanation:

The custodian has 5 1/4 gallons of paint, to find the number of bookcases the custodian will be able to repaint with this amount of paint if each bookcase requires 3/4 gallons, then we will simply divide 5 1/4 by 3/4 to give us the number.

But first we need to change 5 1/4 to improper fraction,

thus; 5 1/4 =
`(21)/(4)`

5 1/4 ÷3/4 =
`(21)/(4)` ÷
`(3)/(4)`

(We will want to change the division sign to multiplication, to do that, we will have to take the inverse of 3/4 which is 4/3 hence;

=
`(21)/(4)` ×
`(4)/(3)`

4 will cancel out 4 hence;

=
`(21)/(3)`

= 7

Therefore the custodian will be able to repaint 7 bookcases with the amount of paint.