Jessie was given the problem 3 2/5÷3/10= to solve. Jessie’s work looks like this:
3 2/5÷3/10=
17/5÷3/10=
17/5⋅3/10=17⋅3/5⋅10
51/50=1 /150
Jessie’s answer is incorrect. Answer the following questions about Jessie’s work.
a. Find and describe Jessie’s error.
b. What is the correct answer?
a. Jessie's error occurred when she multiplied the fractions 17/5 and 3/10. Instead of multiplying the numerators (17 and 3) and denominators (5 and 10) separately, she incorrectly multiplied the numerators together and the denominators together.
b. The correct answer can be found by multiplying the numerators (17 and 3) together to get 51, and multiplying the denominators (5 and 10) together to get 50. Therefore, the correct answer is 51/50.