Basic Problem

Omicron

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Apr 17, 2014
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Irene has can read in one day 30 pages. At this rate, how long can she finish a book which is 280 pages in total?
Now as the solution to the problem was said to be that I should divide 280 by 30. But what I don't understand is why? Division is splitting equally. How can it give me the number of days when you splitted the number of pages to 30 parts?
 
Irene has can read in one day 30 pages. At this rate, how long can she finish a book which is 280 pages in total?
Now as the solution to the problem was said to be that I should divide 280 by 30. But what I don't understand is why? Division is splitting equally. How can it give me the number of days when you splitted the number of pages to 30 parts?
You can divide something into even-sized piles, but you may sometimes have a little bit left over. This exercise sort of uses that.

Would it make more sense to you if the book had 300 pages in total? If so, then think about the day before the last day, when she would be finishing at the 270-page mark. How many more days would it take to finish the remaining thirty pages? Now think about the 280-page book. How many days will it take to finish the remaining ten pages?

Granted, she'll take less than the whole day to finish those ten pages, but do you kinda see how the remainder (being "10") in the division illustrates the fact that she'll need that last day, but maybe not all of it? ;)
 
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