Question

Molly has 1 1/2 cups of sugar. She used 3/4 cup of sugar. She wants to model a subtraction problem on a number line to find how much sugar she has left. Molly’s first step is shown below.

What should Molly do next, and how much sugar does she have left?
A. Move 1 1/2 units to the right. She has 1 3/4 cups of sugar left.
B. Move 3/4 unit to the left. She has 3/4 cup of sugar left.
C. Move 1 1/2 units to the left. She has 3/4 cup of sugar left.
D. Move 3/4 unit to the right. She has 2 1/4 cups of sugar left.

Answer 1

She should move 3/4 units to the left of the 1 1/2.

Answer 2

it's B because 1 1/2 not simplified is 3/2, and 3/2 not simplified is 6/4. Since she wants to use 3/4 of sugar, then you need to do 6/4-3/4 which equals 3/4, the amount of sugar Molly had left.