Maggi buys 3/4 pound of blueberries and uses 3/5 of them to make a smoothie. How many pounds of blueberries did Maggi use to make her smoothie?
The correct answer and explanation is:
Correct Answer:
To find how many pounds of blueberries Maggi used for the smoothie, multiply the total amount she bought by the fraction she used: 34×35=920\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{3}{5} = \frac{9}{20}
So, Maggi used 9/20 pounds of blueberries to make her smoothie.
300-Word Explanation:
This problem involves multiplying fractions to determine a part of a whole. Maggi starts with 3/4 of a pound of blueberries. However, she doesn’t use all of them—only 3/5 of what she has. To figure out how many pounds she actually used, we calculate 3/5 of 3/4.
The phrase “of” in math often means multiplication, especially when dealing with fractions. So, when the question says she used 3/5 of the 3/4 pounds, we multiply: 35×34\frac{3}{5} \times \frac{3}{4}
To multiply fractions:
- Multiply the numerators (top numbers):
3×3=93 \times 3 = 9 - Multiply the denominators (bottom numbers):
5×4=205 \times 4 = 20
So, the result is: 920\frac{9}{20}
This tells us that Maggi used 9/20 of a pound of blueberries in her smoothie.
To better understand this visually, imagine dividing 1 pound of blueberries into 20 equal parts. If Maggi used 9 of those parts, she used less than half a pound—just under 0.5 pounds (since 10/20 = 0.5).
This type of question helps build understanding of real-life applications of fractions, such as cooking or measuring ingredients. It also reinforces fraction multiplication and how to interpret word problems that involve “parts of parts.”
Therefore, Maggi used 9/20 pounds of blueberries in making her smoothie.