Question

Ms. Carpse writes the following problem on the board. A 20-feet length of ribbon is cut into 4 equal pieces. How many inches long is each piece of ribbon? Ashe says you should first divide 20 feet by y, the convert to inches. Wesley’s says you should first convert 20 into inches, then divide by 4. Explain how both students are correct.

Answer 1

Both of the Students are correct, where the units are the same in the beginning and at the end. If you divide 20 feet by 4, you get 5 feet or 60 inches. If you convert 20 feet to inches, you get 240 inches. When you divide 240 by 4, you get 60 inches. Therefore, they both are correct.