A contractor cut 28 feet of wire into sections that were 4 and 2/3 feet long. How many pieces of wire did the contractor have?

a0 pieces of wire

To find the no. of pieces, we have to divide the total length of the wire by the length of each piece, which is 28 : 4 2/3

As we cannot divide by a mixed number, we change it to an improper fraction.

4 2/3 becomes 14/3.

To divide by a fraction, we invert the divisor (explaination below) and change the divide operation to the multiplication operation.

Hence, 28 : 14/3 = 28 x 3/14.

We can then simplify it by cross cancellation (explanation below).

28 x 3/14 = 2 x 3 = 6

Ans: He has 6 pieces of wire.

Divisor: The no. being divided by.

Cross Cancellation: Dividing the numerator of a fraction or a whole no. and a denominator of another fraction by a number.