Question

Mary has 7 1/4 yards of fabric. She cuts off foot of fabric to make the edge even. Mary wants to end up with 3 pieces of fabric that are the same size. How long will each piece be? (1 yard = 3 feet)

Answer 1

each piece will be 2 1/3 yards

Explanation:

Total fabric Mary has = 7 1/4 yards

She cuts off = 3/4 ft

First we need to convert from foot to yard the part cut off. Then we subtract the part that was cut off from the total fabric.

$\begin{gathered} Given\colon\text{ 1 yard = 3 fe}et \\ 3feet\text{ = 1 yard} \\ \frac{3}{4\text{ }}ft\text{ = x} \\ x(3)\text{ = }\frac{3}{4}\text{ }\times\text{1} \\ 3x\text{ = }\frac{3}{4} \\ x\text{ = }\frac{3}{4}\div3=\frac{3}{4}\times\frac{1}{3} \\ x\text{ = 1/4 yard} \\ \text{Hence, 1/4 yard was cut off} \end{gathered}$

Subtracting the part cut off:

$7\text{ }\frac{1}{4}yard\text{ - }\frac{1}{4\text{ }}\text{yard = 7 yard}$

We are informed Mary want 3 pieces of the fabric of same size after the fraction has been cut off.

we divide 7yards into 3:

$\begin{gathered} \text{Each piece of fabric left = }\frac{7\text{ yards}}{3} \\ \text{Each piece of fabric left = 2}\frac{1}{3}\text{ yards} \end{gathered}$

Hence, each piece will be 2 1/3 yards