a board is 15 5/8 in. long . If it must be divided into three pieces of equal length , how long must each piece be ?
(15 5/8)/3 = 15/3 + (5/8)/3 = 5 5/24
or,
15 5/8 = 125/8
divide by 3
125/24 = 5 5/24
To find the length of each piece when dividing a board of 15 5/8 inches into three equal pieces, you need to divide the total length by 3.
First, convert the mixed fraction 5/8 into a decimal. To do this, divide 5 by 8:
5 ÷ 8 = 0.625
Now, add the whole number and the decimal:
15 + 0.625 = 15.625
Next, divide the total length by 3:
15.625 ÷ 3 = 5.20833 (rounded to five decimal places)
Therefore, each piece must be approximately 5.20833 inches long when the board is divided into three equal pieces.
To find the length of each piece, we need to divide the total length of the board by the number of pieces.
First, convert the mixed number 15 5/8 to an improper fraction:
15 5/8 = (15 * 8 + 5) / 8 = 125/8
Now, divide the total length of the board by the number of pieces:
125/8 ÷ 3
To divide a fraction by a whole number, we multiply the numerator of the fraction by the reciprocal of the whole number. The reciprocal of 3 is 1/3.
(125/8) ÷ (3/1) = (125/8) × (1/3)
Multiply the numerators together and the denominators together:
(125 × 1) / (8 × 3) = 125/24
Therefore, each piece should be 125/24 inches long.