Question

Each student in a pottery class is responsible for cleaning the area around his or her workspace at the end of the lesson. Each student's area is approximately 4½ ft. There are 13 students in the class. Assuming that each student cleans his or her area, how many square feet in total is cleaned? Solve the problem by each of these methods.

a) Convert the fraction to an improper fraction and multiply.

b) Use addition to rewrite the fraction, and multiply using the distributive property.

Answer 1

To find the total area cleaned, mult. 4 1/2 ft^2 by 13 (students):

9 ft^2

---------------- * 13 students = 58.5 ft^2

students

Second approach: Rewrite 4 1/2 as 4 + 1/2

and then mult. this result by 13:

13(4 + 1/2) = 52 + 13/2= 52 + 6.5 = 58 1/2 ft^2 (answer)