Question

A gym teacher orders 42 tennis balls. Each package contains 3 tennis balls. Which of the following equations represents the number x of packages?

Answer 1

`x=42/3`

Explanation:

To find the amount of packages of tennis balls, take the total number of tennis balls and divide that number by the number of packages.

`42/3=14" packages"`

Answer 2

`x=42-:3=14` or `x=42/3=14`

Explanation:

You didn't list the possibilities, but there is only one.

`x` is the number of packages of tennis balls.

To calculate the number of packages, divide the total number of tennis balls by the number of tennis balls in each package.

`x=(42"tennis balls")/((3"tennis balls")/"package")`

Invert the fraction and multiply.

`x=42color(red)cancel(color(black)("tennis balls"))xx(1"package")/(3color(red)cancel(color(black)("tennis balls")))="14 packages"`