A small can of paint was 1/8 of a liter. That was enough to fill 1/10 of a paint sprayer. How many cans of paint would it take to completely fill the sprayer?

2 Answers
Feb 28, 2017

10 cans of paint would be required to completely fill the sprayer.

Explanation:

It is given that one small can of paint is enough to fill 1/10 of a paint sprayer. Since the entire sprayer represents the whole, or 1, it will equal 10/10 . Thus, the expression 10/10 divide 1/10 can be written. This equals 10/10 * 10/1 , which yields 100/10 , or 10 when simplified. The fact that the can of paint can contain 1/8 of a liter is extra information, though it can be concluded that it takes 1 2/8 (or 1 1/4) liters to fill the sprayer, as you can multiply 1/8 by 10.

Feb 28, 2017

10 cans

Explanation:

You are trying to solve for when the sprayer is full, or at 100%. This can also be written as 100/100 or just simply 1.

The size of the paint can is irrelevant in this problem.

If 1 can fills 1/10 of the sprayer, 2 cans will fill 2/10 of the sprayer.

We can continue this pattern to 10 cans at 10/10

10/10 also is equal to 1 so this is your answer, 10 cans.