Question

A spice merchant divided 5/6 of a pound of ground cinnamon into 5 equal packages. He then sold the ground cinnamon to restaurants and bakeries. What was the weight of ground cinnamon in each package?

Write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.

pounds

Answer 1

To find the weight of ground cinnamon in each package, we start with the total weight of cinnamon the spice merchant has, which is \( \frac{5}{6} \) of a pound. He divided this amount into 5 equal packages.

To calculate the weight of cinnamon in each package, we divide the total weight by the number of packages:

\[
\text{Weight of each package} = \frac{5/6}{5}
\]

This division can be rewritten as multiplying by the reciprocal:

\[
\text{Weight of each package} = \frac{5}{6} \times \frac{1}{5}
\]

Simplifying this:

\[
\text{Weight of each package} = \frac{5 \times 1}{6 \times 5} = \frac{5}{30}
\]

Now, simplifying \( \frac{5}{30} \):

\[
\frac{5}{30} = \frac{1}{6}
\]

Thus, the weight of ground cinnamon in each package is

\[
\boxed{\frac{1}{6}} \text{ pounds}
\]