Jeanie has a 3/4 piece of ribbon. She needs one 3/8 yard piece and a 1/2 yard piece. Can she cut the piece of ribbon into the two smaller pieces? Explain
Jeanie cannot cut the piece of ribbon into two smaller pieces.
[tex] \frac{3}{4} = \frac{6}{8} [/tex] if you multiply the numerator and the denominator for [tex] \frac{3}{4} [/tex] by 2. She needs [tex] \frac{1}{2} [/tex] yard piece, which is [tex] \frac{4}{8} [/tex] if you multiply the numerator and the denominator for [tex] \frac{1}{2} [/tex]. Now that all the numbers have the same denominator, you can subtract the numerators which is: 6 - 4 - 3 = -1 This means that she cannot cut the ribbon into two smaller pieces.
