Higher Order Thinking

Mrs. Dryson

divided her collection of 52 glass bears

into equal groups. She had 1 bear

left over. How many groups did

Mrs. Dryson make? How many bears

are in each group?

Mrs. Dryson made 3 groups with 17 glasses of bears each or she made 17 groups with 3 glasses of bears each.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let the number of groups is x and each group gets y number of bears.

Now, Mrs. Dryson distributed 52 glass bears equally in groups and there was 1 bear left over.

Therefore, xy = 52 - 1 = 51

Now, x and y both must be whole numbers.

Now, we have 51 = 3 * 17, which is the only possible factorization of 51.

So, if x = 3 then y = 17 and if x = 17, then y = 3.

Therefore, Mrs. Dryson made 3 groups with 17 glasses of bears each or she made 17 groups with 3 glasses of bears each. (Answer)