Question

Which of the following are word problems for 1/2 x 3/4 and which are not? explain briefly in each case.

a) There is 3/4 of a cake left. One half of the children in Mrs. Brown's class want cake. How much of the cake will the children get?
b) A brownic recipe used 3/4 of a cup of butter for a batch of brownies. You ate 1/2 of a batch. How much butter did you consume when you ate those brownies?
c) Three quarters of a pan of brownies is left. Johnny cats 12 of a pan of brownies. Now what fraction of a pan of brownies is left?

Answer 1

Scenarios a) and b) are word problems for 1/2 x 3/4 because in each, you are finding half of three-quarters of an amount. Scenario c) is not a word problem for 1/2 x 3/4 because it does not involve finding a fraction of a fraction.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's evaluate whether the following scenarios represent the multiplication of fractions, specifically 1/2 x 3/4.

• a) There is 3/4 of a cake left. One half of the children in Mrs. Brown's class want cake. How much of the cake will the children get? This is a word problem for 1/2 x 3/4 because you're looking to find what one half of 3/4 of a cake is.
• b) A brownie recipe used 3/4 of a cup of butter for a batch of brownies. You ate 1/2 of a batch. How much butter did you consume when you ate those brownies? This is also a word problem for 1/2 x 3/4 because it asks for the amount of butter in one half of the batch that originally used 3/4 cup of butter.
• c) Three quarters of a pan of brownies is left. Johnny eats 1/2 of a pan of brownies. Now what fraction of a pan of brownies is left? This is not a word problem for 1/2 x 3/4 because Johnny is eating a fixed amount (1/2 of a pan), not half of the remaining 3/4 of the pan.