Plums 4

Last year, Peter's Market ordered 15 1/2 pounds of plums from a local orchard. This year, the market plans to order 1 1/4 times as many pounds of plums as were ordered last year. They want 2/5 of this order to be red plums. What is the total amount, in pounds, of red plums the market plans to order this year? (HINT!! Multiply all 3 numbers together at once so that you can cross-cancel. )

Write your answer as a mixed number.


Show your work.

Correct answer:

m =  7 ³⁄₄ = 31/4 lb

Step-by-step explanation:

$$\begin{gathered} a=15\frac{1}{2}=15+\frac{1}{2}=\frac{15\cdot 2+1}{2}=\frac{30+1}{2}=\frac{31}{2}=15.5\text{lb} \\ b=1\frac{1}{4}=1+\frac{1}{4}=\frac{1\cdot 4+1}{4}=\frac{4+1}{4}=\frac{5}{4}=1.25\text{lb} \\ c=\frac{2}{5}=0.4 \\ m=a\cdot b\cdot c=\frac{31}{2}\cdot \frac{5}{4}\cdot \frac{2}{5}=\frac{31}{4}\text{lb}=7\frac{3}{4}\text{lb}=7.75\text{lb} \end{gathered}$$

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