Ted and his friends are rolling out clay for art class.

- Ted rolled out his clay until it was 2 feet long.
- Noah rolled out his clay [tex]\frac{3}{5}[/tex] as long as Ted's clay.
- Jeannie rolled out her clay until it was [tex]1\frac{1}{2}[/tex] times as long as Ted's clay.
- Miles rolled out his clay [tex]\frac{5}{5}[/tex] as long as Ted's clay.

Without multiplying, whose clay is shorter than Ted's clay?

A. Noah
B. Jeannie
C. Miles

Noah's clay is shorter than Ted's since he rolled out his clay ⅓ as long as Ted's. Jeannie's and Miles's are not shorter; Jeannie's is longer, and Miles's is the same length. Therefore, the correct answer is option A.

Explanation:

To determine whose clay is shorter than Ted's clay, we need to compare the lengths of the clay rolled out by each of Ted's friends to Ted's clay without multiplying.

Noah rolled out his clay ⅓ as long as Ted's, so his clay is shorter than Ted's.
Jeannie rolled out her clay 1½ times as long as Ted's, so her clay is longer than Ted's.
Miles rolled out his clay ⁵/₅ (which is equal to 1) as long as Ted's, so his clay is the same length as Ted's.

Therefore, the person whose clay is shorter than Ted's is A. Noah.