In Twila's class, there are 20 students. [tex]$\frac{2}{5}$[/tex] of the students are boys. How many of the students in her class are boys?
A. 4 students
B. 12 students
C. 10 students
D. 8 students
Answer (2)
There are 8 boys in Twila's class. This is calculated by finding 5 2 of 20 students, resulting in 8 boys. The correct answer is D. 8 students.
;
Determine the fraction of students who are boys: 5 2 .
Multiply the total number of students by this fraction: 20 × 5 2 .
Calculate the result: 5 20 × 2 = 5 40 = 8 .
Conclude that there are 8 boys in Twila's class.
Explanation
Understanding the Problem We are given that there are 20 students in Twila's class, and 5 2 of them are boys. We need to find the number of boys in the class.
Finding the Number of Boys To find the number of boys, we need to multiply the total number of students by the fraction representing the proportion of boys. That is, we need to calculate 5 2 of 20.
Calculation We can calculate this as follows: Number of boys = 5 2 × 20 = 5 2 × 20 = 5 40 = 8 So, there are 8 boys in Twila's class.
Final Answer Therefore, the number of boys in Twila's class is 8.
Examples
Understanding fractions is crucial in everyday situations. For instance, when baking, you might need to use 5 2 of a cup of flour from a 20-cup bag. This problem demonstrates how to calculate that specific quantity, ensuring you measure the correct amount for your recipe. Similarly, if you are planning a party and expect 20 guests, and you know that 5 2 of them prefer a certain type of drink, you can use this calculation to determine how many drinks of that type you should prepare.
