Jana has a rectangular sheet of cardboard that measures 10 inches by 18 inches. What is the maximum number of 3-inch by 3-inch squares that she can cut from this sheet of cardboard?
Why is the answer to this question 18 and not 20?
Answer (2)
She can fit 3 squares along the 10 inch side and 6 squares along the 18 inch side. When you multiply 3 by 6 you get 18. The answer is not 20 because you cannot fit 20 3x3 squares.
Jana can cut a maximum of 18 squares from the cardboard because she can fit 3 squares along the 10-inch side and 6 squares along the 18-inch side. The calculation shows that 3 multiplied by 6 equals 18. You cannot fit 20 squares because the dimensions of the cardboard limit the total number of squares that can be used.
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