Question

Mia spent 30 minutes answering the math questions on the exam. This was 3/5 of the total amount of time allotted for this section of the exam. To determine the total amount of time allotted for this section of the exam, Mia set up and solved the equation as shown below.

Answer 1

Total time allotted was:

50 minutes

Explanation:

Let the total time allotted be x minutes.

Mia spent 30 minutes answering the math questions on the exam. This was 3/5 of the total amount of time allotted for this section of the exam.

The first step was correct i.e.

`(3)/(5)x=30`

Now, on multiplying both sides by 5/3, we get

`(5)/(3)* (3)/(5)* x=30* (5)/(3)`

x=50

Hence, the second step was incorrect and the total time allotted was:

50 minutes