Steven bought a piece of meat and cut it into three pieces.

Question

The mass of the first piece of meat was 5/8 of the mass of the second piece of meat. The mass of the second piece of meat was 4/7 of the mass of the third piece of meat, a. Find the ratio of the mass of the first piece of meat to that of the second piece of meat to that of the third piece of meat, b. What is the ratio of the mass of the second piece of meat to the total mass of the 3 pieces of meat?, c. What fraction of the total mass of the 3 pieces of meat was the mass of the third piece of meat?

Answer 1

Let m be the mass of the third piece of meat, then the mass of the second piece is (4/7)m and the mass of the first is (5/8)(4/7)m=5m/14. Total mass=(4/7+5/14+1)m=27m/14.

a. The ratio of the masses is 5/14:4/7:1=5/14:8/14:1=5:8:14.

b. The ratio of the second piece to the total is 4/7:27/14=8/14:27/14=8:27.

c. Fraction of the third piece to the total=14/27 (1/(27/14) or the reciprocal of 27/14).