Final answer:
There were 40 pencils in each of the six boxes that were purchased, found by dividing the total number of pencils, 240, by the number of boxes, 6.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many pencils were in each box when a student bought six boxes with a total of 240 pencils, we simply need to divide the total number of pencils by the number of boxes.
The calculation is as follows:
- Count the total number of pencils, which is 240.
- Count the number of boxes, which is 6.
- Divide the total number of pencils by the number of boxes: 240 pencils ÷ 6 boxes = 40 pencils per box.
This means that there were 40 pencils in each box.