Question

A company bought a total of 412 feet of cable to connect 3 computers to the wall outlet. Each computer needs the same amount of cable. How many feet of cable are needed to connect each computer? Express your answer in simplest form. Responses 12ft 1 half, ft 13ft 1 third, ft 112ft 1 and 1 half, ft 113ft

Answer 1

137 1/3 ft

Explanation:

Given the following information:

• 412 ft of cable are used for 3 computers
• each computer uses the same amount of cable

we can solve for the amount of cable used for one computer by creating a ratio of cable length to number of computers:

cable length : # of computers

412 ft : 3 computers

We can see that to make this a unit ratio, or the ratio of cable length to one computer, we need to divide both sides by 3:

412 ft : 3 computers

/ 3 / 3

137 1/3 ft : 1 computer

So, 137 1/3 ft of cable is needed to connect each computer.