Question

Jasmine tapes together 3 straws in a straight line. Each straw is 9(1)/(2) inches long. To find the total length of the straws, Jasmine multiplies 9(1)/(2) by (3)/(3).

a. Describe the error Jasmine made.

Answer 1

Jasmine made an error by multiplying the length of each straw by (3)/(3), instead of multiplying it by 3 to find the total length.

Step-by-step explanation:

Jasmine made an error in her multiplication. Instead of multiplying the length of each straw (9(1)/2 inches) by the number of straws (3), she multiplied it by the fraction (3)/(3), which equals 1. This means that Jasmine only counted the length of one straw, instead of all three. To find the total length of the straws, Jasmine should have multiplied 9(1)/2 inches by 3, which would give her the correct answer.