Question

If two-thirds of the barrels shown need to be painted, how many barrels will be painted?

a) 5

b) 8

c) 10

d) 12

Answer 1

The question asks how many barrels should be painted if two-thirds of them are to be painted. If there are 12 barrels total, then 8 barrels would be painted. The calculation is performed by multiplying two-thirds (2/3) by the total number of barrels.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how many barrels will be painted, we need to calculate two-thirds of the total number of barrels.

If there are 12 barrels in total, then 8 barrels will need to be painted.

Let's assume that the total number of barrels is 'T.' In mathematical terms, two-thirds of the total can be expressed as (2/3)×T. Without knowing the exact number of barrels (T), we can't calculate the exact number to be painted. However, looking at the options provided, we can deduce that the total must be a multiple of 3 so that two-thirds of it will give us a whole number.

Eliminating the non-multiples of 3 from the 4 options, we're left with 12 as the only viable total number of barrels since two-thirds of 5, 8, or 10 can't result in whole numbers. Therefore, if we calculate two-thirds of 12, we have (2/3)× 12 = 8. Hence, the correct answer is 8, which is option b).

Step by step explanation

1. Identify the total number of barrels (assuming it is T).
2. Calculate two-thirds of T which is (2/3)×T.
3. Look at the options and find which total number of barrels allows for two-thirds to be a whole number. In this case, only 12 fits this requirement.
4. Multiply two-thirds by 12 to get the number of barrels to be painted, which is 8.