Liam has 8 3/4 gallons of paint. He wants to use 2/5 of the paint to paint his living room. How many gallons of paint will Liam use?
I think that I would need to take 8 3/4 - 2/5=8 7/20
Can you tell me if I got this answer right or wrong and if I got it wrong how would I go about solving this problem?
Thank you
You have 8 3.4 gal of paint
you're going to use 2/5 of it to paint
what type of math would you use to figure how much?
Multiplication!!
8 3/4 times 2/5 =
see if you can get it from there
So I think that the answer would be 3.5 gallons of paint is what Liam will use
Actually, the approach you used to find the answer is incorrect. To calculate how much paint Liam will use, you need to multiply the total amount of paint Liam has by the fraction representing the portion he wants to use.
To solve this problem correctly, you should multiply 8 3/4 (or 35/4) by 2/5. Here's how you can do it:
Step 1: Convert the mixed number to an improper fraction.
8 3/4 = (4 * 8 + 3)/4 = 35/4
Step 2: Multiply the two fractions.
(35/4) * (2/5)
Step 3: Multiply the numerators (top numbers) together: 35 * 2 = 70.
(70/4) * (1/5)
Step 4: Multiply the denominators (bottom numbers) together: 4 * 5 = 20.
70/20
Step 5: Simplify the fraction, if possible.
70/20 can be simplified by dividing both the numerator and denominator by 10.
70/20 = (70 ÷ 10)/(20 ÷ 10) = 7/2
Therefore, Liam will use 7/2 gallons of paint, which is equal to 3 1/2 gallons.
Let me know if you need further assistance!