Mr. Ken has three pieces of ribbon of length 100 cm, 150 cm and 200 cm. He wishes to cut the three pieces of ribbon into smaller pieces of equal length with no remainder.
- What is the greatest possible length of each of the smaller pieces of ribbon?
- How many of the smaller pieces of ribbon of equal length can he get?
(a)
Factors of 100: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100
Factors of 150:1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 25, 30, 50, 75, 150
Factors of 200:1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 100, 200
The highest common factor of 100, 150 and 200 is 50.
Greatest possible length of each smaller piece of ribbon = 50 cm
(b)
Total length of ribbon
= 150 + 200 + 100
= 450 cm
Number of smaller pieces
= 450 ÷ 50
= 9
Answer(s): 50 cm; (b) 9