homework word problem

[standingonarooftop]

HI there!The question was "A baker creates only 3 layer cakes and 4 layer cakes. At the end of 1 day she has made 31 layers. How many cakes did she make?" I more have a question about what "solve the problem using atleast 2 different strategies/models" means. The question also mentions "There is more then 1 answer to the problem. Find all possible answers and justify/defend your thinking." To which I have found the answers a)9- 3 layer cakes and 1-4 layer b)7-4 layer and 1-3 layer c)5-3 layer and 4-4 layer. Any help would be great! thanks!

 

[mmm4444bot]

… I have found the answers a)9- 3 layer cakes and 1-4 layer b)7-4 layer and 1-3 layer c)5-3 layer and 4-4 layer …

The numbers are correct, but your hyphens are all misplaced.

(a) Nine 3-layer cakes and one 4-layer cake

(b) One 3-layer cake and seven 4-layer cakes

(c) Five 3-layer cakes and four 4-layer cakes

The instructions require more than these answers. You need to explain how you got these answers, and you need to describe at least two different methods.

Since you did not make any statements about what you did or what you're thinking, I cannot comment on your methods.

 

[standingonarooftop]

hello! thanks for the reply!

for a) i divided 31 (layers) by 3 (layers) and got 9 with 4 remainder which means i can have one -4 layer cake and nine-3 layer cakes
for b) i divided 31 )layers) by 4 (layers) and got 7 with 3 remainder which means i can have one-3 layer cake and seven-4 layers cakes
for c) i added 3+4+3+4+3+4+3+4=28, then 28 +3= 31, so i looked at how many 3's i had and found out i can have five-3 layers cakes and then i looked at how many 4's i had and found out i can have four-4 layer cakes.


i'm just not certain what the question means by '2 method' and if i got all the answers possible
thanks!

 

[Denis]

You got all the possible solutions.

a = 3-layers, b = 4-layers; then :
3a + 4b = 31
b = (31 - 3a) / 4

(31 - 3a) must be a multiple of 4;
only a=1, a=5 and a=9 make that possible: kapish?