A 4 1/2ft ribbon is cut into 6 equal-length pieces.How long is each piece?
4.5 / 6 = 0.75 = 3/4 foot
To find the length of each piece, we need to divide the total length of the ribbon by the number of pieces.
Given that the ribbon is 4 1/2 feet, we first need to convert the mixed number 4 1/2 to an improper fraction. To do this, we multiply the whole number (4) by the denominator (2) and add the numerator (1) to get the new numerator (9). The denominator remains the same. So, 4 1/2 can be represented as the improper fraction 9/2.
Now, we can divide the length of the ribbon, which is 9/2 feet, by the number of pieces, which is 6.
We can simplify the division by multiplying the numerator (9) by the reciprocal of the denominator (2/6). When we multiply a fraction by its reciprocal, the result is always 1.
So, (9/2) ÷ 6 = (9/2) × (1/6)
We can multiply the numerators (9 × 1) and the denominators (2 × 6) to get the result of the division:
(9/2) × (1/6) = 9/12
To simplify this fraction further, we can divide both the numerator and the denominator by their greatest common divisor, which in this case is 3.
Dividing both 9 and 12 by 3, we get:
9/12 = 3/4
Therefore, each piece of the ribbon is 3/4 feet long.