Question

The area of a rectangular piece of land is 5/16 square mile. .

One dimension is 1/2 mile. How long is the other side?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Area = L * W

L = 1/2

Area = 5/16

5/16 = 1/2 * w You could do this using decimals

5/16 = 0.3125

1/2 = 0.5

0.3125 = 0.5 * w

w = 0.3125/0.5

w = 0.625

w = 5/8

The other way is done by fractions

`((5)/(16) )/((1)/(2) ) = (5)/(16)*(2)/(1) =(5)/(8)`

There are a couple of notes

• First, you invert and multiply the denominator (the bottom fraction). It becomes 2/1
• Second the 2 and 16 cancel 5/16 becomes 5/8