A 9 pound bag of sugar is being split into containers that hold 2/3 of a pound. How many containers of sugar will the 9 pound ba create?

1 Answer
Apr 18, 2018

The bag will yield 13 1/2 containers of sugar.

Explanation:

Splitting the bag up by weight is pretty easy with the information given. You simply need to divide the total amount of sugar (9 lbs) by the amount that you put into each bag (2/3 lb).

#9/(2/3)#

This expression looks kind of ugly in this form, so let's instead multiply 9 by the reciprocal of 2/3, which in this case is 3/2.

The reciprocal of any number is just 1 divided by the number. If you have a fraction to start with, it's even easier- just flip it upside down.

#9*3/2#

#=27/2=13 1/2#