Question

Ms. Davis teaches jewelry making at the community college. Each of her 25 students will need 1Eleven-twelfths feet of leather cord to make necklaces. The cord is sold in 5-foot spools, and she cannot purchase a partial spool. Which equation would provide the best estimate of how many spools of cord she needs to buy?

Answer 1

The equation that would provide the best estimate of how many spools of leather cord Ms. Davis needs to buy is:

x = (s * l)/5, where s = 25 and l = 1

Explanation:

1. Let's review the information provided to us to help Ms. Davis to answer the question correctly:

Number of students at Ms. Davis jewelry making class = 25

Leather cord each student will need to make necklaces = 11/12 feet

Leather cord is sold in 5-foot spools

2. Which equation would provide the best estimate of how many spools of cord she needs to buy?

Number of 5-foot spools Ms Davis needs to buy = x

Number of students = s

For avoiding issues with the leather cord length per student, it's better to estimate 1 feet per student because with 11/12 feet it always will give Ms Davis partial amounts. Therefore,

Length of leather cord per student = l = 1 feet

Now we can write the equation, this way:

x = (s * l)/5

Replacing with the real values, we have:

x = (25 * 1)/5 = 25/5 = 5 5-foot spools of leather cord

The equation that would provide the best estimate of how many spools of cord Ms. Davis needs to buy is

x = (s * l)/5, where s = 25 and l = 1