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How do you solve this math word problem? PLEASE HELP ME AND EXPLAIN STEP BY STEP!!!?

A lumberyard charges $ 1 per cut to trim boards. Bob buys a 12-ft board and wants it out into twelve 1-ft pieces. How much will he be charged for the cutting? The correct answer is $11.

9 Answers

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  • 6 days ago

    The better answer would be closer to $4, if they have a bigger saw. Cut it in half, stack the halves, cut those in half, stack the quarters and cut them all into 3 pieces, giving you 12 pieces with 4 cuts.  I do this with firewood on a regular basis.

  • 6 days ago

    The 12-ft board can be cut into 11 pieces of

    smaller boards of 1-ft in length. So Bob will

    be charged $1*11=$11.

    See the diagram below:

    _ is 1-ft smaller board.

    _1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_10_11_

    totally 11 cuts.

  • Amy
    Lv 7
    7 days ago

    Bob has 1 piece of wood. He wants 12 pieces.

    Each cut turns 1 piece into 2, therefore each cut adds 1 to the total number of boards.

    Therefore Bob wants 11 cuts.

  • 1 week ago

    Draw a diagram...

    [ and ] for the ends, | for the cuts, ... for 1ft

    [...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...|...]

    count the ... (12)

    count the | (11)

    11* $1 = $11

  • 1 week ago

    Yes, cutting a 12 ft board into 1 ft pieces requires 11 cuts.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 week ago

    A lumberyard charges $ 1 per cut to trim boards. 

    Bob buys a 12-ft board and wants it 

    cut into twelve 1-ft pieces. 

    11cuts will give 12 pieces.

    Hence he will be charged $11 for the cutting.

  • 1 week ago

    The correct answer is $11

  • 1 week ago

    It takes 11 cuts to cut a 12 foot board into 12 pieces.

    It always takes 1 less cut than the number of pieces wanted.  If you want 2 pieces, you cut once.  If you want 3 pieces, you cut twice. Etc.

  • 1 week ago

    Your first cut leaves 11 inches.  The second leaves 10 inches

    Third: 9

    Fourth: 8

    Fifth: 7

    sixth: 6

    Seventh: 5

    Eighth 4

    Ninth 3

    tenth 2

    Eleventh leaves just 1 foot so you don't need any more cuts.

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