Question

Irene makes 4 2/3 cups of pancake batter . she splits the

batter into 2 bowls . she mixes blueberries into 2 1/4 cups of batter and walnuts into the rest of the batter


1 . Estimate how much of the batter has walnuts in it .explain your estimate.

2 . find the actual amount of batter that has walnuts in it . explain how you your answer is reasonable .

Answer 1

Explanation:

An estimate is usually a guess, but I somehow think that's not what you want.

She starts with 4 2/3 cups of batter. When she divides it into two, one of the batters has 2 1/4 cups. That's the one she puts blueberries in.

The other batter is the one you are interested in. How big is it?

Estimate: One

The estimated size would be 4 2/3 - 2 1/3 = 2 1/3 which is an estimate. It is just taking the closest number to use so you don't have to grab your calculator.

Actual Size: Two

4 2/3 - 2 1/4 is the size of the second batter. Since 2/3 is greater than 1/4 you need only subtract the whole numbers and then the fractions.

Whole number subtraction: 4 - 2 = 2

Fraction subtraction: 2/3 - 1/4

Find the Lowest common multiple between 3 and 4: It is 12. 3 and 4 are prime to each other. They have nothing in common.

• 2/3 to 12s: (2*4)/(3*4) = 8 / 12
• 1/4 to 12s: (1 *3) / (4*3) = 3/12
• 8/12 - 3/12 = 5/12

So the actual size of the batter containing the walnuts is 2 5/12