Question

Sam needs to cut a piece of sheet metal into 8 pieces. It takes him 5 minutes to make each cut.

1. How many cuts will Sam make? 40 cuts
2. WRITING TO EXPLAIN
How would making a table help you to find the number of minutes it took Sam to cut the sheet metal into 8 pieces.
3. How long will it take Sam to turn the sheet metal into 8 pieces? Write your answer in a complete sentence.

I need help for 2 and 3.

Answer 1

For #3, To make 8 pieces you have 7 cuts. 7*5=35 minutes

Answer 2

-- Cut the sheet in half.

-- Put one half-sheet on top of the other half-sheet.
Cut the stack of 2 halves in half.

-- Put one stack of two quarter-sheets on top of the other stack of quarter-sheets.
Cut the stack of 4 quarters in half.

Now you have eight one-eighth sheets.

Three cuts.
Taking Sam (3 x 5) = 15 minutes, plus a few seconds for set-up between cuts.