Question

Maxi is trying to stack books on a shelf that is 18 inches tall. If the books are 4/5 inch thick, how many can she stack? What operation should you use? Explain in complete sentences why you chose that operation.

A. Maxi can stack 18 books, and addition should be used because you add the book thickness to the shelf height.
B. Maxi can stack 22.5 books, and subtraction should be used because you subtract the book thickness from the shelf height.
C. Maxi can stack 20 books, and division should be used because you divide the shelf height by the book thickness.
D. Maxi can stack 18 books, and multiplication should be used because you multiply the book thickness by the number of books.

Answer 1

Maxi can stack 22 books, and division should be used to calculate the number of books.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how many books Maxi can stack on a shelf that is 18 inches tall, we need to divide the height of the shelf by the thickness of each book. The operation we should use is division. To calculate the number of books, we divide the height of the shelf (18 inches) by the thickness of each book (4/5 inch).

So, the answer is 18 / (4/5) = 18 x 5/4 = 90/4 = 22.5 books. However, since Maxi cannot stack half a book, the maximum number of books she can stack is 22.