36.1k views
5 votes
The area of a storm shelter is 24 meters. The length is 5 1/3 meters. What is the width of the storm shelter?

User Octoshape
by
6.0k points

2 Answers

4 votes
Hey there!

To start, first keep in mind that the formula for area is A=L*W where L is the length and W is the width.

Now that we know our area formula, we can plug in our known values which include the length, 5 1/3, and the area, 24.
This would look like this:
24=5 1/3*W

Now that you have this, convert 5 1/3 to an improper fraction to make it easier to divide:
5 1/3=16/3

Now, divide 16/3 from both sides:
24÷16/3=x

Now simplify:
Since you are dividing a fraction, the easiest thing to do would be to convert the expression 24÷16/3 to a multiplication expression. To do this, find the reciprocal of the divisor and change the division sign to a multiplication sign:
24*3/16

Now, multiply straight across and you get 72/16. Now simplify this fraction by dividing the numerator and denominator by 8 (the greatest common factor of the numerator and denominator) to get 9/2.

Finally, convert 9/2 to a mixed fraction to get 4 1/2.

Therefore, your final answer would be the width of the shelter is 4 1/2 meters.
User Jay Shenawy
by
6.4k points
4 votes
4.5 meters because
length*width=area or area/length=width
24÷5
(1)/(3)
=24÷16/3
=
(24)/(1)×
(3)/(16)
=
(72)/(16) or 4.5 meters
User HMilbradt
by
5.5k points