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GCSE Maths question - Help...?
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stamina9008
Posts: 319 Forumite
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stamina9008 wrote: »Hi, my dad uses this site but i thought it might be a good place to ask this question..
Please help me answer it, it's part of my homework and i cant understand it..
I dont think the answer is 3/5, so..please help..
4. Challenge!
Simon ate 1/5 of a cake and his sister ate 1/4 of what was left.
What fraction of the cake is now left? (hint: a diagram may help!)
I understand the four rules of fractions, but this question is really annoying me..
Have a nice day
I would say 3/5 were left. But then I left school over 20 years ago.
If Simon ate 1/5 he left 4/5 or 4 pieces. If his sister ate 1/4 of this , she ate 1 piece, leaving 3 pieces or 3/5.0 -
That's what i think, im just looking for assurance really.
Let's see if were right, hopefully a maths boffin comes along, cos im certainly not one..lol
Yeah - - It probably is 3/5 'OwnMyOwn', thanks.0 -
So he ate 1/5 : or 4/20
So there were 16/20 left.
She ate 1/4 of that : or 4/20
So there are 12/20 left or 3/5 simplified."One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
5/5 minus 1/5 is 4/5 of the cake left after the brother eats a piece.
4/4 minus 1/4 is 3/4 left after sister eats a piece.
3/4 times 4/5 is 3/5.
of = times in maths vocab.:heartsmil When you find people who not only tolerate your quirks but celebrate them with glad cries of "Me too!" be sure to cherish them. Because these weirdos are your true family.0 -
PS. I'm a maths boffin"One day I realised that when you are lying in your grave, it's no good saying, "I was too shy, too frightened."
Because by then you've blown your chances. That's it."0 -
It's easier to see if you put it into hundredths (not quite percentages per se)
The cake is 100 pieces.
Simon eats a fifth, which is 20 pieces. So there's 80 pieces left.
The sister eats a quarter of what's left. So out of the 80 pieces, she eats 20. Same as Simon. Their family definitely have the 'one cuts and the other one chooses' rule.
So there's 60 pieces left out of the original 100, which is 60/100, 6/10, 3/5.
If you were doing it as a diagram, a pie chart would be best (honestly!)"Most of the people ... were unhappy... Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy." -- Douglas Adams0 -
Yep...3/5
Simon eats 1/5 so 4/5 left
Always subsistute 'of' for 'times by'. So 1/4 of 4/5 is the same as
1/4 x 4/5 = 4/20 = 1/5.
So she eats 1/5 meaning 3/5 remain.Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those affected (Benjamin Franklin) JFT96...YNWA0 -
Isn't anyone else shocked that a question like this is being set at GCSE level?0
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Try to get access to https://www.mymaths.co.uk
Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 10
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