Question

Matthew's dad hired him to paint 6 wooden patio chairs for $125. It takes him 9 hours to paint all of the chairs. If it takes the same amount of time to paint each chair, what fraction of an hour does it take Matthew to paint one chair? Justify your thinking with a model.

Answer 1

Given:

Matthew's dad hired him to paint 6 wooden patio chairs for $125.

Time taken by him to paint all of the chairs = 9 hours.

It takes the same amount of time to paint each chair.

To find:

The fraction of an hour does it take Matthew to paint one chair

Solution:

Total time = 9 hours

Total number of chairs = 6

Now, time taken by Matthew to paint one chair is

`\frac{\text{Total time}}{\text{Total number of chairs}}=(9)/(6)`

`\frac{\text{Total time}}{\text{Total number of chairs}}=(3)/(2)`

Therefore, Mattew takes
`(3)/(2)` of an hour to paint one chair.

Thinking with a model: On dividing the total time by total number of chairs we get time taken by Mattew (in hours) to paint one chair. So, the result represents the fraction of an hour taken by Matthew to paint one chair.