Question

One third of the bagels in a bakery are sesame bagels. There are 72 sesame bagels. Can you write an equation to find how many bagels were there in the bakery?

Answer 1

`1/3 xx x =72`

It turns out that there are `216` bagels.

Explanation:

A common error that students make is to write `1/3 = 72`

This is obviously not true!!

What they should write is that `1/3` of some number `=72`

Let that number be `x`

`1/3 xx x = 72`

`(3xx1)/3 =3xx72" "larr` multiply both sides by `3`

`x = 216`

Answer 2

`216`

Explanation:

Let the total bagels in the bakery be`x`

`:.1/3x=72`

`:.x=72/(1/3)`

`:.x=72/1xx3/1`

`:.x=216`