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Question P5–P6 Units and parts

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Ribbon — wrapping a gift

Mei used of a ribbon to wrap a gift. She had 45 cm of ribbon left. What was the length of the ribbon at first?

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About this method

Units and parts

Cut one amount into equal shares. One number tells you what a share is worth.

In this one. Match the given 45 cm to the 5 equal units that were left, not to the whole 7 units or the 2 used units.

In allone share

How to spot it

A single amount is split by a ratio, a fraction or a percentage. One extra number gives you the leftover, the difference, or the value of one share.

Common mistake

Children match the given number to the wrong number of shares, using the whole bar when the number covers only the leftover or the difference between two people's shares.

Practise a similar question

Standard Ayesha read 5/8 of a book over the weekend. She had 51 pages left to read. How many pages does the book have in total?
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