Math Problem of the Week - Upper Elementary - May 9, 2021 to May 15, 2021

Upper Elementary: 

Question: Francis is chopping a 10-layered onion. He first cuts the onion in half vertically, from stem to roots. He then cuts each half of the onion 4 times horizontally. How many pieces of onion does Francis have after he separates all the layers?

Answer: 100 pieces

Solution: There are 10 layers of onion, so we can think of that as 10 pieces. When Francis cuts the onion in half, that makes twice as many pieces: 10 x 2 = 20. When he cuts each half onion horizontally 4 times, he multiplies the number of pieces by 5: 20 x 5 = 100