Question

sherry had $7/8$ of a cup of sugar in her kitchen, and then she used $1/2$ of a cup of sugar to make sweet tea. she used what fraction of her sugar to make sweet tea?

Answer 1

Sherry used 4/8 cup of sugar, which can be converted into eighths (4/8) to match the original amount (7/8 cup). By dividing 4/8 by 7/8 and simplifying, we find out that Sherry used 4/7 of her total sugar to make sweet tea.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking about the operation with fractions in the context of a practical application involving measuring cups of sugar. To determine what fraction of the sugar Sherry used to make sweet tea, you have to perform a simple division since the original quantity and the amount used are both expressed as fractions of a cup.

Sherry started with 7/8 cup of sugar and then used 1/2 cup of it. To find out what fraction of her sugar was used, we calculate the following:

Convert 1/2 cup into eighths to match the denominator of Sherry's original amount of sugar, which results in 4/8 cup.

Divide the 4/8 cup by the original amount, which is 7/8 cup. The fraction that represents the sugar used is 4/8 divided by 7/8.

To divide fractions, we multiply by the reciprocal. So we multiply 4/8 cup by the reciprocal of 7/8 cup, which is 8/7. Therefore, the calculation is 4/8 × 8/7 = 32/56, which simplifies to 4/7 after dividing both numerator and denominator by 8.

Thus, Sherry used 4/7 of her total sugar to make sweet tea.

Answer 2

Sherry used 4/7 of her sugar to make sweet tea, calculated by dividing the amount of sugar used (½ cup, equivalent to 4/8) by the total initial amount she had (⅗ cup) and simplifying the resulting fraction.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sherry had ⅗ of a cup of sugar in her kitchen and then she used ½ of a cup of sugar to make sweet tea. To find what fraction of her sugar she used, we compare the amount used (½ cup) to the total amount she initially had (⅗ cup). To do this, we need to divide the amount of sugar used by the total amount of sugar she had:

Convert the fractions so they have a common denominator (8): ½ becomes 4/8.

Divide 4/8 (the amount used) by 7/8 (the total amount): (4/8) ÷ (7/8).

Multiply by the reciprocal to simplify the division: 4/8 × 8/7.

Simplify the fraction: 4 × 1 / 1 × 7 = 4/7.

Therefore, Sherry used 4/7 of her sugar to make the sweet tea.