Question

The length of a ribbon is 3/4 meter. Sun yi needs pieces measuring 1/3 meter for an art project. What is the greatest number of pieces measuring 1/3 meter that can be cut from the ribbon? How much ribbon will be left after sun Yi cuts the ribbon Explain your reasoning

Answer 1

3/4 of a meter in decimal form is 0.75m

1/3 of a meter in decimal form is 0.33m

 Only two whole pieces measuring 0.33 can be cut from the ribbon since

0.33 + 0.33 = 0.66 (which is 0.09 less than 0.75) 

therefore any other piece will measure  0.75 - 0.66 = 0.09

For simplicity we can multiply by 100 to convert meters to cm, so

0.75 * 100 = 75cm,  0.33 * 100 = 33cm,  0.66 * 100 = 66 cm,  0.09  * 100 = 9cm.

So  two ribbons each 33cm long, totaling 66cm ,can be cut from the 75cm ribbon and only 9cm of the ribbon will be left.