Question

a land developer wants to divide up 3 9/10 acres of land into equally - sized lots for houses. she wants to build 3 houses. how big can she make each lot? write your answer as a fraction or as a whole or mixed number.

Explanation:

Step1: Convert mixed - number to improper fraction

First, convert $3\frac{9}{10}$ to an improper fraction. $3\frac{9}{10}=\frac{3\times10 + 9}{10}=\frac{30+9}{10}=\frac{39}{10}$.

Step2: Divide by number of houses

Then, divide the total land area by the number of houses. We need to calculate $\frac{39}{10}\div3$. Since dividing by a number is the same as multiplying by its reciprocal, $\frac{39}{10}\div3=\frac{39}{10}\times\frac{1}{3}$.

Step3: Simplify the product

Multiply the numerators and denominators: $\frac{39\times1}{10\times3}=\frac{39}{30}$. Simplify $\frac{39}{30}$ by dividing both the numerator and denominator by 3. $\frac{39\div3}{30\div3}=\frac{13}{10}=1\frac{3}{10}$.

Answer:

$1\frac{3}{10}$