You are wrapping boxes for a fund-raiser. You have 80 large boxes. You need 2 and three-fourths feet of ribbon for each large box. Each roll of ribbon has 50 feet of ribbon.

Question

a. Estimate the number of feet of ribbon you will need. Show your work.

b. Find the exact number of feet of ribbon you will need. Show your work.

c. How many rolls of ribbon will you need? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

a. To estimate, we can round 2 and three-fourths to 3. Then, we can multiply 3 by 80 to get an estimate of the total amount of ribbon needed:

3 ft of ribbon per box x 80 boxes = 240 feet of ribbon

b. To find the exact number of feet, we can multiply 2 and three-fourths by 80:

2.75 ft of ribbon per box x 80 boxes = 220 feet of ribbon

c. To find the number of rolls needed, we can divide the total amount of ribbon needed by the amount of ribbon per roll:

220 feet of ribbon ÷ 50 feet per roll = 4.4 rolls of ribbon

Since we cannot buy a fraction of a roll, we will need to purchase 5 rolls of ribbon to have enough for all 80 boxes.