Math Problem of the Week - Upper Elementary - Aug. 21, 2022 to Aug. 27, 2022

Upper Elementary:

Question: Sammy is wrapping a birthday gift and wants to find out how much ribbon he'll need. He wants to wrap the ribbon all the way around the gift box twice, then have an extra 1 1/2 feet of ribbon for the bow on top. If the gift box is a cube that is 15 inches wide, how many inches of ribbon will he need?

Answer: 138 inches

Solution: To go all the way around the box, the ribbon covers 15 inches, 4 times. That's 60 inches. To wrap the ribbon all the way around the box twice, Sammy needs 60 x 2 = 120 inches of ribbon. For the bow, he'll need another 1 1/2 feet, or 18 inches. Altogether, that's 120 + 18 inches of ribbon.