Question

Five crates hold 20 pounds of materials. Jen set up this problem to find how many pounds of materials one crate holds:

5/20 = 1/x

Which of the following best describes how Jen will continue to solve the problem?


Cross multiply, 5x = 20


Cross add, 5 + x = 21


Multiply across, 5 = 20x


Add across, 6 = 20x

Answer 1

After setting up the two ratios as a proportion, cross multiply to find the value of x.

Cross multiply, 5x = 20

Answer 2

Cross multiply, 5x = 20

Explanation:

In Cross multiplication,

`(a)/(b)=(c)/(d)\implies a* d=b* c`

Since, the given problem,

`(5)/(20)=(1)/(x)`

Thus, by the cross multiplication,

`5* x= 20* 1`

`5x=20`

Hence, the statement that best describes the step to solve the problem,

' Cross multiply, 5x = 20 '