Question

Karl measured the wingspan of the butterfly and the moth. How many times larger is the moth (3 1/2) than the Butterfly (3 1/4)?

We understand that it is 1/4 in bigger and 0.25 in bigger, but the question is how many times bigger, not how many inches. Please help!

Answer 1

The wingspan of the moth is
`3(1)/(2)\ in` and the the wingspan of the butterfly is
`3(1)/(4)\ in.`

To find how many times larger is the moth than the butterfly you should divide the wingspan of the moth by the wingspan of the butterfly:

`(3(1)/(2) )/(3(1)/(4) )=((7)/(2))/((13)/(4))=(7)/(2)\cdot (4)/(13)=(7\cdot 4)/(2\cdot 13)=(14)/(13).`

Answer: the moth is larger
`(14)/(13)=1(1)/(13)` times.