Question

If Simon has 60 bows, 36 silk flowers, and silk carnations and wants to put the same number of items on each wreath, how many items can Simon put on each wreath?

a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
d) 5

Answer 1

Simon can put a maximum of 3 items (60 bows, 36 silk flowers, and an unspecified number of silk carnations) on each wreath, provided that the number of silk carnations also has 3 as a factor.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how many items Simon can put on each wreath, we need to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 60 bows, 36 silk flowers, and the unknown number of silk carnations. Since the number of silk carnations is not given, we can only solve this problem if we assume that the number of silk carnations is also a factor of the GCD.

Let's find the GCD of 60 (bows) and 36 (silk flowers) first:

• Factors of 60 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60.
• Factors of 36 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36.

The common factors of 60 and 36 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. The greatest common factor among them is 12. However, since the problem requires that the number must be the same number of items on each wreath, and the options given are 2, 3, 4, and 5, the highest number from these options that is a factor of both 60 and 36 is 3.

Therefore, if the number of silk carnations is such that it also has 3 as a factor, the maximum number of items Simon can put on each wreath is 3 (Option b).