Question

Laura and Sean find the product of 2/3 x 4 using different methods.

Answer 1

Answer: So our equation is $\frac{2}{3} *4$

Laura does:

$\frac{2}{3}*4 = 2*\frac{1}{3} *4 = 2*\frac{4}{3} = \frac{4}{3} + \frac{4}{3} = \frac{8}{3}$

while Sean does:

$\frac{2}{3}*4 = \frac{2}{3} + \frac{2}{3} +\frac{2}{3} + \frac{2}{3} = \frac{8}{3}$

So sean sums four times the number 2/3, while Laura sums two times the number 4/3, this is because we are working with a multiplication, and the order of the factors does not alter the product.

The two are splitting the equations in different ways.