Which problem can be solved using this equation? (Explain) x + 2 = (1)/(4)(42)? A.) Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday. Today, she is 2 short of having 1…

Question

Which problem can be solved using this equation? (Explain)

x + 2 =
`(1)/(4)`(42)?


A.) Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday. Today, she is 2 short of having 1/4 of the boxes filled. How many boxes are filled?

B.) Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday. Today, she is 2 short of having 1/4 of the boxes filled. How many boxes are still empty?

C.) Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday. Today, she is 2 short of having 1/4 of the boxes filled. How many additional boxes does Mary need?

D.) Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday. Today, she is 2 short of having 1/4 of the boxes filled. How many boxes will Mary have left to fill tomorrow?

Answer 1

It's a

Explanation:

Hope this helps

Answer 2

A). Mary had 42 empty boxes when she started packing yesterday.
Today, she is 2 short of having 1/4 of the boxes filled.
How many boxes are filled?

Total number of boxes . . . 42
1/4 of them. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/4(42)
Does she have that many filled today ?
NO ! She does not have 1/4(42) filled today.
She has 2 less than that filled. . . . 1/4(42) - 2

What is the number she has filled ? Call it 'x' .

It's x = 1/4(42) - 2

Add 2 to each side: x + 2 = 1/4(42)

Well gosh ! That's the equation in the question.
We were able to build it with the story in Choice-A.
You can't do that with any of the other choices.

How many does she have filled ?

x = 1/4(42) - 2

= 10.5 - 2

= 8.5 boxes .

Is this some kind of a trick question ? What does this mean ?
How can she have half of a box filled ?
The box has to be either full or not full.
I mean, a box can be half-full, but there's no such thing as a half-box that's full.
What answer do they want ?

Should we say: She has 8 boxes filled ... plus a full half-box ?
What's a full half-box ? ?

Should we say: She has 8 and 1/2 boxes filled ?
I don't know. That last piece isn't a filled box.

The Math is done. What's left is Philosophy and Semantics.
That's more than I can handle.

Maybe it's just a sloppily-written question.
Everything would be much easier if she started with 40 boxes or 44 boxes.
I think you can point out the sloppiness to your teacher and have a discussion.