you have 20 yards of ribbon and need to cut it into 2 yd lenghts, how many cuts do you have to make in algebraic form

Question

the answer is 9 how do we put it in numeric equasation

Answer 1

If you have y yards of ribbon and you need to cut it into x yard lengths, then:

If y is divisible by x evenly (no remainder), then you need to make (y/x) - 1 cuts

If y is not divisible by x evenly (there is a remainder), then you need to make y/x cuts.