Question

Megan spent $9.85 on ingredients and made one pan of cereal bars. The pan has a length of 24 inches and a width of 16 inches.

​Megan needs to cut individual cereal bars from the pan. Each cereal bar should be the same size and shape and should represent a reasonable serving.
​Estimate an appropriate length and width for each cereal bar and explain your assumptions.
​Based on your estimate, determine the amount each cereal bar will cost Megan to make. Show your work.

Answer 1

I assume that each bar could be 2 inches by 4 inches. This is a reasonable size for a cereal bar and is easy enough to hold and does not appear to be too large a serving size. The cereal bar can also be cut so that all cereal bars are the same size and shape since 24 inches and 16 inches can be evenly divided by 2 inches and 4 inches.

For the 1 pan of bars cut so each bar is 2 inches by 4 inches, there would be 6 rows of bars (24 ÷ 4) and 8 bars in each row (16 ÷ 2). Altogether, that would make 48 bars for each pan. The amount spent on ingredients is $9.85, so the amount each cereal bar will cost Megan to make is $9.85 ÷ 48, which is $0.205, or about $0.21.

Answer 2

I assume that each bar could be 2 inches by 4 inches. This is a reasonable size for a cereal bar and is easy enough to hold and does not appear to be too large a serving size. The cereal bar can also be cut so that all cereal bars are the same size and shape since 24 inches and 16 inches can be evenly divided by 2 inches and 4 inches.
For the 1 pan of bars cut so each bar is 2 inches by 4 inches, there would be 6 rows of bars (24 ÷ 4) and 8 bars in each row (16 ÷ 2). Altogether, that would make 48 bars for each pan. The amount spent on ingredients is $9.85, so the amount each cereal bar will cost Megan to make is $9.85 ÷ 48, which is $0.205... or about $0.21.