Question

The line plot shows the measurement of a certain liquid (in milliliters) in nine beakers. If you combined the liquids and then put an equal amount of liquid in each beaker, how much liquid would be in each beaker?

A)
1/8 ml

B)
1/2 ml

C)
7/29 ml

D)
1/4 ml

Answer 1

There would be 1/2 mL in each beaker.

We start by adding the amounts given by the line plot:
1/4 + 1/4 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 5/8 + 3/4 + 7/8

Find a common denominator. The smallest thing that 2, 4 and 8 will all evenly divide into is 8:

2/8 + 2/8 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 4/8 + 4/8 + 5/8 + 6/8 + 7/8

Add the numerators:
36/8

Now we divide this by 9:
36/8 ÷ 9 = 36/8 ÷ 9/1 = 36/8 × 1/9 = 36/72 = 1/2