Question

You are using stone slabs to lay a patio. The slabs can be either 0.9 m or 0.6 m wide. One side of the patio is 4.4 m. The customer wants to use slabs of the same size, but with the smallest possible gap left at the end. Which units do you choose?

A. 0.9 m
B. 0.6 m
C. Both 0.9 m and 0.6 m
D. Neither 0.9 m nor 0.6 m

Answer 1

To find the smallest possible gap when laying a patio, divide the patio length by slab width for both options. The 0.6 m slab fits better with only a 0.2 m gap, making it the correct choice.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine which size of stone slab will result in the smallest possible gap when laying a patio with one side measuring 4.4 m, we need to find out how many times each size of slab will fit into the length without exceeding it. For slabs that are 0.9 m wide, we divide 4.4 m by 0.9 m to find out how many slabs can fit:

4.4 ÷ 0.9 ≈ 4.89

Since we cannot have a fraction of a slab, we can only fit 4 slabs which will leave a gap of:

4.4 m - (4 × 0.9 m) = 0.4 m

For slabs that are 0.6 m wide, we divide 4.4 m by 0.6 m to find out how many slabs can fit:

4.4 ÷ 0.6 ≈ 7.33

Again, we can only fit 7 slabs, which will leave a gap of:

4.4 m - (7 × 0.6 m) = 0.2 m

Therefore, using slabs that are 0.6 m wide will result in a smaller gap at the end of the patio. The correct answer is B. 0.6 m.