Question

Fernando is going to redo his kitchen and wants to put in wood laminate flooring. His kitchen is rectangular and measures 3 yards by 5 yards. The laminate tiles he is looking at measure 1/2 ft by 1 ft. How many tiles would Fernando need to buy to redo his kitchen floor?

Answer 1

Answer: 270 tiles

The kitchen measures 3 yards by 5 yards
(For easy reference in the answer, length is assumed 3 yards and width 5 yards)

3 yards = 3 x 3 = 9 feet
5 yards = 5 x 3 = 15 feet

There are 2 ways to align the tiles.
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Method 1: align the 1/2 ft as the length and 1ft as the width
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Number of tiles on the length = 9 ÷ 1/2 = 18 tiles
Number of tiles on the width = 15 ÷ 1 = 15 tiles
Total titles = 18 x 15 = 270 tiles

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Method 2: align the 1ft as the length and 1/2 ft as the width
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Number of tiles on the length =9 ÷ 1= 9 tiles
Number of tiles on the width = 15 ÷ 1/2 = 30 tiles
Total titles = 30 x 9= 30 tiles

Either way, Fernando needs 270 tiles

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Answer: 270 tiles
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Answer 2

If Fernando aligns the tiles so the short tile dimension is in the direction of the short kitchen dimension, he will need
.. (3 yd)/(1/6 yd) = 18 tiles
by
.. (5 yd)/(1/3 yd) = 15 tiles
for a total of
.. (18 * 15) = 270 tiles