College

Spencer is wrapping a present with ribbon. She has a pink ribbon that is 6 feet long and a blue ribbon that is 8 feet long. She uses [tex]$\frac{3}{6}$[/tex] of the pink ribbon and [tex]$\frac{4}{8}$[/tex] of the blue ribbon. Did she use the same amount of each ribbon? Justify your answer.

The fractions [tex]$\frac{3}{6}$[/tex] and [tex]$\frac{4}{8}$[/tex] are equivalent. However, because they refer to wholes that are not the same size, Spencer did not use the same amount of pink and blue ribbon.

Answer :

We begin by noting that Spencer uses fractions $\frac{3}{6}$ of the pink ribbon and $\frac{4}{8}$ of the blue ribbon. First, simplify each fraction:

$$
\frac{3}{6} = \frac{1}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{4}{8} = \frac{1}{2}.
$$

Even though these fractions are equivalent, they refer to different whole amounts because the pink ribbon is 6 feet long and the blue ribbon is 8 feet long.

Next, we calculate the actual length of each ribbon used.

For the pink ribbon:
$$
\text{Amount of pink ribbon used} = 6 \times \frac{1}{2} = 3 \text{ feet}.
$$

For the blue ribbon:
$$
\text{Amount of blue ribbon used} = 8 \times \frac{1}{2} = 4 \text{ feet}.
$$

Since Spencer used 3 feet of pink ribbon and 4 feet of blue ribbon, it is clear that she did not use the same amount of each ribbon.

Thus, we can fill in the drop-down menus as follows:

The fractions $\frac{3}{6}$ and $\frac{4}{8}$ are equivalent. However, because they refer to wholes that are **not the same size**, Spencer **did not** use the same amount of pink and blue ribbon.