Exercising causes an athlete's body to lose potassium, and it is important to replenish this

nutrient after a race.
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

1. subtract 4.5 - 0.54
2. add 0.54 + 0.372 and subtract the sum from 4.5
3. subtract 4.5 - 0.372 then add 0.54 to the difference
4. add 0.54 + 0.372 + 4.5
Pick one answer

1 answer

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

So, the correct approach is:

  1. add 0.54 + 0.372 and subtract the sum from 4.5

Here's the step-by-step process:

  1. Calculate the total potassium consumed:
    \(0.54 + 0.372 = 0.912\) grams

  2. Subtract this total from the recommended amount:
    \(4.5 - 0.912 = 3.588\) grams

This means the athlete needs 3.588 more grams of potassium to reach the recommended daily intake.