Question

A total of 2 feet of snow fall over three days. On the first day 1/6 of the total snow falls on the second day 7/12 of the total snow falls complete the table to list the amount of snow in inches that falls each day.

Answer 1

The total amount of snow that falls in three days equals the sum of the amount of snow that falls each day, then we can formulate the following expression:

s1 + s2 + s3 = Ts

Where s1 is the snow that fell on day 1, s2 on day 2, s3 on day 3 and Ts is the total amount of snow that fell over the three days.

We can calculate the amount of snow that fell on the first two days by multiplying the total snow by the given fractions, like this:

s1 = 1/6 * 2 = 1/3

s2 = 7/12*2 = 7/6

Now we can replace these values into the above equation and solve for s3, like this:

1/3+ 7/6+ s3 = 2

1.5 + s3 = 2

1.5 - 1.5 + s3 = 2 - 1.5

s3 = 2 - 1.5

s3 = 1/2

The following table shows the amounts of each day: