Question

A box of a dozen granola bars costs \(\$ 3.60\). What is the unit cost? A. \(\$ 0.27\) per bar B. \(\$ 0.30\) per bar C. \(\$ 0.32\) per bar D. \(\$ 0.33\) per bar

Short answer

\text{B. \(\text{\textdollar} 0.30\) per bar}.

Step-by-step solution

- Identify Total Cost and Quantity

The total cost of the box of granola bars is given as \(\text{\textdollar} 3.60\). The quantity of granola bars in the box is given as 12.

- Set Up the Unit Cost Formula

To find the unit cost, divide the total cost by the number of granola bars. The formula is: \[ \text{Unit Cost} = \frac{\text{Total Cost}}{\text{Quantity}} \]

- Perform the Division

Substitute the given values into the formula: \[ \text{Unit Cost} = \frac{3.60}{12} \] \Perform the division to get: \ \[ \text{Unit Cost} = 0.30 \]

- Match with the Options

Compare the calculated unit cost \(0.30\) with the given options. The correct answer is B.

Key concepts

Unit Price Calculation

Determining the unit price is crucial for understanding how much you are paying per individual item in a bulk purchase. In this exercise, discovering the unit cost of granola bars will involve using this calculation. First, let's identify the key components: the total cost and the quantity.

The total cost of the box is \$3.60\$, and there are 12 granola bars in the box. To find out how much one granola bar costs, we will use the formula:
\[ \text{Unit Cost} = \frac{\text{Total Cost}}{\text{Quantity}} \]

This formula essentially tells us that to get the unit cost, we'll divide the total cost by the quantity of items.
Let’s break it down with the given numbers:
\[ \text{Unit Cost} = \frac{3.60}{12} \] When you perform this division, you get:
\[ \text{Unit Cost} = 0.30 \]
This means each granola bar costs \$0.30\$.

Understanding Division in Cost Calculation

Division is a fundamental arithmetic operation that splits a number into equal parts. Here, we used division to determine the cost per granola bar.
If you remember from your basic arithmetic classes, division allows you to see how many times one number can fit into another.

When we divide \$3.60\$ by 12,
it is the same as finding what one part costs when the \$3.60\$ is equally divided among the 12 bars.
This type of calculation is practical and widely used in real-world scenarios, such as shopping or budgeting.
You use the division formula whenever you want to find the price of a single item from a bulk cost.
Here’s the division step for the exercise again:
\[ 3.60 \div 12 = 0.30 \]
This operation shows you that each granola bar costs \$0.30\$. Remembering this simple application of division can be extremely helpful in everyday life.

Applying Arithmetic Concepts

Arithmetic involves basic math operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These operations help us solve everyday problems efficiently and correctly.
In this exercise, we used the division aspect of arithmetic.

Here’s a quick overview of how these operations work together:

• Addition involves combining numbers to get a larger number.
• Subtraction is taking one number away from another.
• Multiplication helps you find out what you get when you add a number to itself a certain number of times.
• Division, as used here, helps you find out how many times a number will fit into another number.

Understanding and applying these basic arithmetic operations allows you to break down and solve various math problems.
It also helps you approach complex math with ease and confidence.

Even when faced with more challenging problems, knowing these fundamental operations can give you a solid foundation for building more advanced math skills.