Question

Alex bought 3 1/8 pund of peppers for $5.50. At that rate, how much would 1 pound of peppers cost?

Answer 1

I’m pretty sure it’s $1.76

Answer 2

$1.76

Explanation:

Alright, let's spice things up a bit with this problem!

Alex's pepper purchase is like a culinary math adventure. So, he snagged 3 1/8 pounds of peppers for $5.50. Now, we're on a mission to unveil the cost of a single pound of these flavorful delights.

First, we'll unravel the mystery of each pound's cost. If 3 1/8 pounds cost $5.50, we need to break it down. Imagine each pound is a slice of a pepper pie. To find the cost per pound, we divide the total cost by the number of pounds.

`\[ \text{Cost per pound} = \frac{\text{Total cost}}{\text{Number of pounds}} \]`

Plugging in the numbers, it's like this:

`\[ \text{Cost per pound} = (\$5.50)/(3\ 1/8) \]`

Now, to keep things exciting, let's convert that pesky mixed number to an improper fraction:

`\[ 3\ 1/8 = (3 * 8)/(8) + (1)/(8) = (24)/(8) + (1)/(8) = (25)/(8) \]`

So, our formula becomes:

`\[ \text{Cost per pound} = (\$5.50)/((25)/(8)) \]`

And you know the drill—when you divide by a fraction, it's like multiplying by its reciprocal:

`\[ \text{Cost per pound} = \$5.50 * (8)/(25) \]`

$1.76