Question

Ms. Skinner was working with the volunteer club to make bags of treats for the nursing home visit. She bought a bag of 18 chocolates and a bag of 12 pens. What is the greatest number of bags she can make?

A. 4 bags
B. 6 bags
C. 8 bags
D. 9 bags

Answer 1

The greatest number of treat bags Miss Skinner can make with an equal number of chocolates and pens is 6, which is determined by finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 18 and 12.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the greatest number of treat bags Miss Skinner can make for the nursing home visit with an equal number of chocolates and pens in each bag, we need to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the number of chocolates (18) and the number of pens (12). The GCD of 18 and 12 is 6, which is the largest number that divides both 18 and 12 without any remainder.

Therefore, the greatest number of bags Miss Skinner can make is:

• 6 bags of chocolates: 18 chocolates divided by the GCD (6) equals 3 chocolates per bag
• 6 bags of pens: 12 pens divided by the GCD (6) equals 2 pens per bag

Each of the 6 bags will contain 3 chocolates and 2 pens, using up all of the purchased items without any left over.

The correct answer is: B. 6 bags.