Q&A - P3 Math

[Just4Fun]

CoffeeCat:

Just4Fun:

I hv come across this Q in previous exam question.. I thought it was easy but yet got conflicting answers !

Here's the question :
Child A has 1000 sweets. He shares them among his 4 friends. How many sweets does each friend get ?
Ans : ???

Simple question ? Right answer pls? Anyone can try ?

\"He shares them among his 4 friends.\"
This probably means that only the 4 friends (not including A) shares the 1000 sweets. So the ans is 250.
If the author wants to include A, then he can say \"He shares them with his 4 friends\".

I thot the definition of \"share\" means \" to give or receive a part of something\". So shouldn't child A should hv part of the sweets allocation too ? Hence the answer is 200 sweets ? ( 1000/ 5 ) .

If question was intended to exclude Child A, shouldn't the word \" distribute / give away \" iso of using \"share \" be more appropriate?

Wow.. so it appears Maths dictionary and English dictionary can be quite different... BTW, is there such thing as \"Maths\" dictionary ? Where can I get it ?

[MathIzzzFun]

cimman:

MathIzzzFun:

Hi cimman,
I would like to share my view on this question. Firstly, I agree with you that the LCM method or the Listing method is a more generic method to use for solving this type of questions.

For this particular case, the Gap & Difference method can be applied because one can infer from the question that same number of packets (ie same multiple, in this case 6 packets) were used to pack the sweets. This inference can be made from the fact that when packing 4 sweets to a packet, there would be 15 sweets remaining. This means that all packets were used to pack the sweets ie same number of packets used.

If it is intended that number of packets used need not be the same, then there are multiple answers - 27, 39, 51, 63 etc and in this case, the last sentence of the question should be worded as \"What is the least number of sweets that Mr Lim has?\" in order to have a unique answer - 27.

Hope this will not create more confusion.

cheers.

thanks for the feedback, MathIzzzFun. Appreciate it.
In this case, I think the question is ambiguous. If the answer is 39, which means the same multiple is used, they should ask \"How many packets are used?\" which would imply that the same number of packets are used in the 2 groups of sweets.
If the question asked \"How many sweets?\" then multiple answers are possible, 39 being one of them, since the least number of sweets qualifier was not asked.

I don't quite get from the inference of the 15 remainder, that this question is asking for 39 as the only correct answer. Is that what you're saying ?

the question being phrased as it is, I believe both ksi and Tianzhu are correct.

Hi

I would think 39 is the only intended answer in this case.

The key here is the remainder of 15 sweets when 4 sweets are packed in a packet, whereas there are only 3 sweets left when 6 are packed in a packet. The only reason that this is case is that he has a limited number of packets and each time, all the packets are used - either filled with 4 or 6 sweets. Otherwise, if there are more than enough packets to pack the sweets, we would expect a remainder of less than 4 when packing 4 sweets into a packet.

Perhaps the other users would like to chip in with their views :lol:

cheers.

[corneyAmber]

MathIzzzFun:

Hi

I would think 39 is the only intended answer in this case.

The key here is the remainder of 15 sweets when 4 sweets are packed in a packet, whereas there are only 3 sweets left when 6 are packed in a packet. The only reason that this is case is that he has a limited number of packets and each time, all the packets are used - either filled with 4 or 6 sweets. Otherwise, if there are more than enough packets to pack the sweets, we would expect a remainder of less than 4 when packing 4 sweets into a packet.

Perhaps the other users would like to chip in with their views :lol:

cheers.

This is a P3/P4 level question. We should bear in mind that there should not be so much complex constraint the child has to think about while solving this question. I don't think it is stated there is a limited number of packets, so contraint is not stated. In any case if a question is subjected to interpretaton, I will argue that it is a badly set question. Teachers should vet such type of questions where there are more than one answer. If it is designed as such, then both answers should be acceptable. JMHO.

[wahwah]

Hi,

Need help with the following question. Many thanks in advance.

Malek and Wahab had 525 marbles. 1/6 of Malek’s marbles and 4/11 of Wahab’s marbles were blue in colour. The rest were red in colour. If they had equal number of blue marbles, how many red marbles did Wahab have?

[corneyAmber]

http://i56.tinypic.com/2n0tqnt.jpg\">

[mama_10]

need help urgently.

3 similar oven toasters and 4 similar kettles cost $120. 2 such oven toasters and 1 such kettle cost $95. Find the cost of an oven toater.

thanks

[Niedino]

mama_10:

need help urgently.

3 similar oven toasters and 4 similar kettles cost $120. 2 such oven toasters and 1 such kettle cost $95. Find the cost of an oven toater.

thanks

Hi mama_10,

When doing such questions, teach your child to make one item the same number. If you notice, the second set of items only has 1 kettle. So multiply the set by 4.

(2 oven toasters and 1 kettle) X 4 = 8 oven toasters and 4 kettles
This costs $95 X 4 = $380

Subtract the 2 sets of items together.
8 oven toasters and 4 kettles --> $380
- 3 oven toasters and 4 kettles --> $120
5 oven toasters and 0 kettles --> $260

Now you should only have 1 type of item left.
5 oven toasters --> $260
1 oven toasters --> $260 divided by 5 = $52

Answer is $52.

When your child reaches a higher level, they will ask more difficult questions, such as the cost of the kettle.

Hope it helps!

[mama_10]

Niedino:

mama_10:

need help urgently.

3 similar oven toasters and 4 similar kettles cost $120. 2 such oven toasters and 1 such kettle cost $95. Find the cost of an oven toater.

thanks

Hi mama_10,

When doing such questions, teach your child to make one item the same number. If you notice, the second set of items only has 1 kettle. So multiply the set by 4.

(2 oven toasters and 1 kettle) X 4 = 8 oven toasters and 4 kettles
This costs $95 X 4 = $380

Subtract the 2 sets of items together.
8 oven toasters and 4 kettles --> $380
- 3 oven toasters and 4 kettles --> $120
5 oven toasters and 0 kettles --> $260

Now you should only have 1 type of item left.
5 oven toasters --> $260
1 oven toasters --> $260 divided by 5 = $52

Answer is $52.

When your child reaches a higher level, they will ask more difficult questions, such as the cost of the kettle.

Hope it helps!

:thankyou:

[MathIzzzFun]

ksi:

MathIzzzFun:

Hi

I would think 39 is the only intended answer in this case.

The key here is the remainder of 15 sweets when 4 sweets are packed in a packet, whereas there are only 3 sweets left when 6 are packed in a packet. The only reason that this is case is that he has a limited number of packets and each time, all the packets are used - either filled with 4 or 6 sweets. Otherwise, if there are more than enough packets to pack the sweets, we would expect a remainder of less than 4 when packing 4 sweets into a packet.

Perhaps the other users would like to chip in with their views :lol:

cheers.

This is a P3/P4 level question. We should bear in mind that there should not be so much complex constraint the child has to think about while solving this question. I don't think it is stated there is a limited number of packets, so contraint is not stated. In any case if a question is subjected to interpretaton, I will argue that it is a badly set question. Teachers should vet such type of questions where there are more than one answer. If it is designed as such, then both answers should be acceptable. JMHO.

Supposing the question is:

\"Mr Lim is distributing some sweets to his students. When he gives 4 sweets to each student, he would have 15 sweets left. When he gives 6 sweets to each student, there would be 3 sweets left. How many sweets does he have? \" What would be the answer ?

cheers.

[cimman]

MathIzzzFun:

ksi:

[quote=\"MathIzzzFun\"]
Hi

I would think 39 is the only intended answer in this case.

The key here is the remainder of 15 sweets when 4 sweets are packed in a packet, whereas there are only 3 sweets left when 6 are packed in a packet. The only reason that this is case is that he has a limited number of packets and each time, all the packets are used - either filled with 4 or 6 sweets. Otherwise, if there are more than enough packets to pack the sweets, we would expect a remainder of less than 4 when packing 4 sweets into a packet.

Perhaps the other users would like to chip in with their views :lol:

cheers.

This is a P3/P4 level question. We should bear in mind that there should not be so much complex constraint the child has to think about while solving this question. I don't think it is stated there is a limited number of packets, so contraint is not stated. In any case if a question is subjected to interpretaton, I will argue that it is a badly set question. Teachers should vet such type of questions where there are more than one answer. If it is designed as such, then both answers should be acceptable. JMHO.

Supposing the question is:

\"Mr Lim is distributing some sweets to his students. When he gives 4 sweets to each student, he would have 15 sweets left. When he gives 6 sweets to each student, there would be 3 sweets left. How many sweets does he have? \" What would be the answer ?

cheers.[/quote]if framed in this way, the answer would be 39, because the number of students in a class cannot change.