Answer:
2
Explanation:
The cake was cut into a 4 × 4 square.
4 × 4 = 16
There are 16 pieces of cake.
She baked the cake for 8 children, so she wants to divide the 16 pieces of cake evenly by the 16 children.
The equation is:
8 children times ____ pieces/child = 16 pieces
We can eliminate the words and use x for the blank to make it look like an algebra equation.
8x = 16
We have 8x on the left side, and we want x alone.
To solve, we divide both sides by 8.
8x/8 = 16/8
x = 2
Now we check with the equation we are given.
8 × ___ = 16
We place a 2 in the blank since that is our answer.
8 × __2__ = 16
Do the multiplication on the left side.
16 = 16
Since 16 = 16, we just confirmed that our answer, 2, is correct.