Exercising causes an athlete’s body to lose potassium, and it is important to replenish this nutrient after a race.

Question

For middle-school students, the recommended amount of potassium intake is 4.5 grams per day. If a student athlete eats a banana containing 0.54 grams of potassium, and drinks 6 ounces of orange juice containing 0.372 grams of potassium, how many more grams of potassium does she need?

How can you find how many more grams of potassium the athlete needs to reach the recommended amount?

To solve this problem, I would

OPTIONS FOR 1: subtract 4.5 - 0.54, subtract 4.5 - 0.372 then add 0.54 to the difference, add 0.54 + 0.372 and subtract the sum from 4.5, and add 0.54 + 0.372 + 4.5

Answer 1

To find out how many more grams of potassium the athlete needs to reach the recommended amount of 4.5 grams, you should first calculate the total amount of potassium she has consumed from the banana and orange juice.

1. Calculate the total potassium consumed:

   • Potassium from the banana: 0.54 grams
   • Potassium from the orange juice: 0.372 grams

   Total potassium consumed = 0.54 + 0.372

   Performing the addition:

   • 0.54 + 0.372 = 0.912 grams

2. Subtract the total potassium consumed from the recommended amount:

   • Recommended amount: 4.5 grams
   • Total potassium consumed: 0.912 grams

   Now, subtract:

   • 4.5 - 0.912

   Performing the subtraction:

   • 4.5 - 0.912 = 3.588 grams

So, the athlete needs 3.588 grams more of potassium to reach the recommended amount.

Answer: The correct method to find how many more grams of potassium the athlete needs is: add 0.54 + 0.372 and then subtract the sum from 4.5.