How Many Cupcakes Were There Altogether? Solving Nico’s Cupcake Dilemma
Imagine you’re Nico, a young baker with a passion for cupcakes. You’ve just baked a fresh batch of cupcakes and you’re arranging them on trays to cool. You place two cupcakes on each tray and when you’re done, you realize you’ve used six trays. Now, you’re left with a simple yet intriguing question: how many cupcakes did you bake altogether? This seemingly simple question can be a fun and engaging way to introduce basic multiplication concepts. Let’s dive into Nico’s cupcake dilemma and explore how to solve it.
Understanding the Problem
The problem here is a basic multiplication problem. Nico has 2 cupcakes on each of 6 trays. To find out how many cupcakes there are in total, we need to multiply the number of cupcakes per tray by the number of trays. This is a practical application of the multiplication concept, which states that multiplication is repeated addition.
Breaking Down the Problem
Let’s break down the problem into smaller, more manageable parts:
- Number of cupcakes per tray: 2
- Number of trays: 6
Now, we need to multiply these two numbers together to find the total number of cupcakes.
Solving the Problem
To solve the problem, we simply multiply the number of cupcakes per tray (2) by the number of trays (6). This gives us:
2 cupcakes/tray x 6 trays = 12 cupcakes
So, Nico has baked a total of 12 cupcakes.
Understanding the Solution
The solution to this problem is a clear demonstration of the multiplication concept. By multiplying the number of cupcakes per tray by the number of trays, we’re essentially adding the number of cupcakes on each tray together six times. This is the essence of multiplication: repeated addition.
Applying the Concept
This simple problem can be applied to a variety of real-world situations. For example, if you’re planning a party and you want to serve cupcakes, you can use this concept to figure out how many cupcakes you need to bake. If you want to serve 2 cupcakes per guest and you’re expecting 20 guests, you would need to bake:
2 cupcakes/guest x 20 guests = 40 cupcakes
Understanding and applying this basic multiplication concept can help you solve a variety of problems in your daily life, from baking cupcakes to planning parties and beyond.
