Question

A machine made 4 1/2 pencils in 3 1/3 minutes. How many pencils did the machine make in one minute?

Answer 1

Given parameters:

Number of pencils = $4\frac{1}{2}$ pencils

Time taken = $3\frac{1}{3}$ minutes

Unknown:

Number of pencils produced in 1 minute;

Solution:

To solve this problem, let us first find the rate of the machine;

       Rate of machine = $\frac{number of pencils }{time taken}$

       Rate of machine = $\frac{\frac{9}{2} }{\frac{10}{3} }$   = $\frac{9}{2} x \frac{3}{10}$   = $\frac{27}{20}$ pencils/minute

Now, number of pencils produces in 1 minute;

            Number of pencils  = rate of machine x time taken

             Number of pencils = $\frac{27}{20}$  pencils/ min x 1 min

             Number of pencils = $\frac{27}{20}$pencils

The number of pencils produced in 1 minute is $\frac{27}{20}$