Question

An electrician needs 2 1/6 rolls of electrical wire to wire each room in a house. How many rooms can he wire with 6 1/2 rolls of wire?

Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.

rooms

Answer 1

Answer: 3 rooms.

Explanation:

If the electrician has 6 1/2 rolls of wire and he can wire 1 room with 2 1/6 rolls, then we need to divide 6 1/2 by 2 1/6. First, convert the mixed numbers into improper fractions. 6 1/2 becomes 13/2, and 2 1/6 becomes 13/6. We can divide improper fractions using Keep Change Flip, or KCF. Keep the first fraction, change the division symbol to multiplication, and flip the second fraction. Our equation is now 13/2 x 6/13. Now just multiply across, and the solution to this equation is 78/26. This simplifies to 3.