Question

A 4 1/2 foot long wire is being cut into smaller pieces that are 1 1/4 feet long. What is the maximum number of smaller pieces of wire that can be cut from the original piece of wire?

Answer 1

Divide total length by the length of the pieces to equal number of pieces.

= 4 1/2 ÷ 1 1/4
convert to improper fractions
= 9/2 ÷ 5/4
multiply by reciprocal of 5/4
= 9/2 * 4/5
= 36/10
simplify by 2
= 18/5
change to mixed number
= 3 3/5

ANSWER: 3 3/5 is the maximum number of pieces that can be cut, but if considering maximum number of FULL pieces that can be cut, it is 3 with 3/5 of a partial piece left.

Hope this helps! :)