Final answer:
Each person receives 3/5 pounds of chocolate when a 9/5 pound box of chocolates is equally shared among Jean-Claude and his two friends. This is calculated by dividing the total weight by three, using fraction multiplication with the reciprocal of three, and simplifying the result.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the weight of chocolate each person receives when a box of chocolates weighing 9/5 pounds is equally shared among Jean-Claude and two of his friends, we have to divide the total weight by the number of people sharing it. In this case, that number is three (Jean-Claude and his two friends). We solve this using fractions by dividing 9/5 pounds by 3.
Here's the step-by-step solution:
- First, represent the total weight as a fraction: 9/5 pounds.
- Since we are dividing by 3, you write this as a multiplication by the reciprocal of 3, which is 1/3.
- Now multiply the two fractions: (9/5) × (1/3).
- Multiplying the numerators: 9 × 1 = 9.
- Multiplying the denominators: 5 × 3 = 15.
- So the resulting fraction is 9/15 pounds.
- To simplify, divide both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 3, yielding 3/5 pounds.
Therefore, each person receives 3/5 pounds of chocolate.