Waaaay off topic-sixth grade math

[mscj]

I've been disagreeing with a teacher's answer on a semester test review for a couple of days to no avail.....wanted to see what the general consensus answer would be....the teacher says 5/8 and I say 5/16.........

See attached for illustration.....in case it's not clear in the pic, two
strips are divided into eight pieces each, with two portions shaded in the
top strip, and three shaded in the lower strip.
*************
Emily and Jenn use blue and red ribbon to make awards. Each strip is one
yard long. The shading in the strips below shows how much of each color
ribbon is left. How much blue and red ribbon is left?

 

[BlackMetal]

I honestly thought it was 5/16 until I looked it up, haha. It's 5/8.

Since these two fractions have the same denominators (the numbers under the fraction bar), we can add them together by simply adding the numerators (the 2 and 3 = 5), while keeping the same denominator (the 8).

 

[turbojimmy]

5/8s. 3/8 + 2/8 = 5/8. You have 16 8ths of stuff there, not 16 16ths.

Jim

 

[bazkook]

5/8s. 3/8 + 2/8 = 5/8. You have 16 8ths of stuff there, not 16 16ths.

Jim

Exactly what I was thinking. Got to think of it in terms of how they're split up not how many there are total.

 

[Warp6]

Is it 5/16 of 2 yards or 5/8 of one yard? There were 2 yards to start with.

 

[mscj]

Well he11...............I thought I was right, leave it to you guys to burst my bubble........

 

[BlackMetal]

5/8s. 3/8 + 2/8 = 5/8. You have 16 8ths of stuff there, not 16 16ths.

Jim

Well that's my problem with the question. You're talking about 2 strips, 2 different colors, yet they want one single answer, in which case it would make me thinking of them as one strip in 16 pieces. :redface:

 

[turbojimmy]

Is it 5/16 of 2 yards or 5/8 of one yard? There were 2 yards to start with.

It would be 5/8 of 2 yards, or 3/8 of one yard and 2/8 of another yard. Same thing.

It's definitely tricky. If he hadn't given both answers I might have gone with 5/16th. But given 5/8 as a possibility I could see it.

Jim

 

[Warp6]

They have 5/16 of the total yardage they started with

 

[turbojimmy]

They have 5/16 of the total yardage they started with

Yes, you're right. It makes my head want to explode, but you're correct. Now that makes me wonder what the correct answer really is.

Let's make it easier:

You have 8 feet of 3/8" fuel line and 8 feet of 1/2" fuel line. You break them each into 8-foot sections. So you have a total of 16, 1-foot pieces of fuel line.

You use 5 1-foot sections of 3/8" and 6 1-foot sections of 1/2". That leaves you with 3 1-foot sections of 3/8" and 2 1-foot sections of 1/2". In total you have 5 feet of fuel line when you started with 16 feet. That's 5/16.

Jim

 

[DR BOOST]

both answers are correct. the question is elusive

5/8 of a yard
or 5/16 of total material (2 yards)

 

[SouthernCal GN]

Another twist....

The lead-in state that:
"Emily and Jenn use blue and red ribbon to make awards. Each strip is one yard long. The shading in the strips below shows how much of each color ribbon is left. How much blue and red ribbon is left?"

The question could be answered in 2 ways- how much of each strip is left, or total remaining combined .
1/4 of the top ribbon remains.
3/8 of the lower ribbon remains.

or 5/8 total.

 

[BlackMetal]

Final answer: This question sucks.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

New Math:

1+1= how do you feel?

 

[mscj]

Final answer: This question sucks.

Got that right......seems like half the questions she has on homework, etc have a little wording twist in them that leads you to believe two answers could be right. Glad to see this messed with you guys also-

Hey SouthernCal GN--you still have that blue T or did you sell? I sure wish I was closer.....would have bought that thing long ago.

 

[whitehot84]

I think the correct answer is 22 1/2 inches.

 

[SouthernCal GN]

Hey SouthernCal GN--you still have that blue T or did you sell? I sure wish I was closer.....would have bought that thing long ago.

She's sleeping happily in Salt Lake City.....:frown:

 

[BLACK6PACK]

Really depends on the exact phrasing of the question.

22.5"

5/8 of a yard

5/16 of what they started out with

These would all be correct answers.

 

[GregInAtl]

Is it 5/16 of 2 yards or 5/8 of one yard? There were 2 yards to start with.

Bingo...thats the key, dont forget to divide by the 2 strips.

 

[scottyb]

Well, I'm glad you figured it out, because the question makes no sense whatsoever, is almost impossible to relate to the illustration, and the illustration is in BLACK AND WHITE!!!