Question

Shayla has 6 1/2 pounds of potato salad into containers each of which holds 1 5/8 pounds. How many containers does she need?

Answer 1

let's firstly convert the mixed fractions to improper fractions and then divide.

$\bf \stackrel{mixed}{6\frac{1}{2}}\implies \cfrac{6\cdot 2+1}{2}\implies \stackrel{improper}{\cfrac{13}{2}}~\hfill \stackrel{mixed}{1\frac{5}{8}\implies \cfrac{1\cdot 8+5}{8}}\implies \stackrel{improper}{\cfrac{13}{8}} \\\\[-0.35em] ~\dotfill$

$\bf \stackrel{\textit{total salad}}{\cfrac{13}{2}}\div \stackrel{\stackrel{\textit{conainer's}}{\textit{capacity}}}{\cfrac{13}{8}}\implies \cfrac{\begin{matrix} 13 \\[-0.7em]\cline{1-1}\\[-5pt]\end{matrix}}{\underset{1}{\begin{matrix} 2 \\[-0.7em]\cline{1-1}\\[-5pt]\end{matrix}}}\cdot \cfrac{\stackrel{4}{\begin{matrix} 8 \\[-0.7em]\cline{1-1}\\[-5pt]\end{matrix}}}{\begin{matrix} 13 \\[-0.7em]\cline{1-1}\\[-5pt]\end{matrix}}\implies 4$