Write a quotient that represents the amount of popcorn in each bag. Then multiply the divisor and the dividend by 10.
See solution.
Practice makes perfect
We are told that Kendra has 5.5 pounds of popcorn and wants to package it equally in 50 bags.
We want to use place-value reasoning to calculate the amount of popcorn to put in each bag. To split the popcorn evenly between the bags, Kendra needs to divide the 5.5 pounds of popcorn by 50.
5.5Ă· 50=?
She can use place-value reasoning to make this division easier. If she multiplies both the divisor and dividend by 10, she can get rid of the decimal point.
5.5Ă· 50
⇕
(5.5* 10)Ă· (50* 10)
⇕
55Ă· 500
Removing the decimal point makes the division a lot more convenient! Now we can divide these whole numbers. The next step is to make an estimation. The number 55 is close to 50, so we can make the following estimation.
50Ă· 500=0.1
We found that 55Ă· 500 is about 0.1. We can calculate the actual quotient by following four steps.
We will bring down the next digit and repeat the steps as needed until the remaining number is zero.
We found that the right amount of popcorn to put in each bag would be 0.11 pounds. We know that this result is reasonable because it is close to our estimation.
