Question

Ellen is making trail mix out of 9 bags of nuts and 6 bags of dried fruit. She wants each new portion of trail mix to be identical, containing the same combination of bags of nuts and bags of dried fruit, with no bags leftover. What is the greatest number of portions of trail mix Ellen can make?

Answer 1

Ellen can make three portions of trail mix by finding the greatest common divisor of the number of nut and dried fruit bags, which is 3.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the greatest number of portions Ellen can make, we need to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the numbers of bags of nuts and dried fruit. For 9 bags of nuts and 6 bags of dried fruit, the GCD is 3. Therefore, Ellen can make three portions of trail mix, each containing an identical combination of 3 bags of nuts and 2 bags of dried fruit, with no bags leftover.