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Cam has a piece of plywood that is 6 7/8 feet wide. He is going to cut shelves from the plywood that are each 1 1/6 feet wide. Which is a good estimate for the number of shelves Cam can make?

User Posha
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2 Answers

4 votes

Answer: 8.25

Step-by-step explanation: To find the number of shelves Cam can make from the plywood, we need to divide the width of the plywood by the width of each shelf.

The width of the plywood is given as 6 7/8 feet.

The width of each shelf is given as 1 1/6 feet.

To divide fractions, we need to find the reciprocal (or flip) of the second fraction and multiply it by the first fraction.

To do this, we first convert both mixed numbers to improper fractions:

6 7/8 = 55/8

1 1/6 = 7/6

Now, we can divide the width of the plywood by the width of each shelf:

55/8 ÷ 7/6

To divide fractions, we multiply the first fraction by the reciprocal of the second fraction:

55/8 * 6/7

When multiplying fractions, we multiply the numerators (top numbers) together and the denominators (bottom numbers) together:

(55 * 6) / (8 * 7) = 330 / 56

We can simplify the fraction by dividing the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, which is 2:

(330 ÷ 2) / (56 ÷ 2) = 165 / 28

So, a good estimate for the number of shelves Cam can make is 165/28.

However, we can simplify this fraction further. The numerator is divisible by 5 and the denominator is divisible by 7:

(165 ÷ 5) / (28 ÷ 7) = 33/4

So, a simplified estimate for the number of shelves Cam can make is 33/4.

In decimal form, this is approximately 8.25 shelves.

User Anatoly Deyneka
by
7.3k points
5 votes
6 7/8= 55/8
6 1/6= 7/6
first find common denominators
55/8 * 3= 165/24
7/6 * 4= 28/24
165/24 divided by 28/24 is the same as 165/24 time 24/28
so that equals 3960/672
which equals 5.8928
so estimates about 5 shelves
User Chris Drew
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7.2k points