Question

Mrs. Zervan bought a box of 250 pencils, and 30 of them need to be sharpened. How many should she expect to sharpen in a box of 625 pencils?

a) 75
b) 90
c) 125
d) 150

Answer 1

Using a proportion based on the initial number of pencils that need to be sharpened, Mrs. Zervan should expect to sharpen 75 pencils in a box of 625 pencils.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question concerns a proportional relationship in mathematics. Since Mrs. Zervan bought a box of 250 pencils, and 30 of them needed to be sharpened, we can set up a proportion to find out how many pencils she should expect to sharpen in a box of 625 pencils. We write the proportion as:

30 pencils / 250 pencils = x pencils / 625 pencils

We cross-multiply to find the value of x:

30 * 625 = 250 * x

18750 = 250x

We then divide both sides by 250 to isolate x:

18750 / 250 = x

x = 75

Therefore, the number of pencils she should expect to sharpen in a box of 625 pencils is 75.