Operations & Word Problems

Problem

Use weight differences to find the empty container

A box with 5 identical juice bottles inside weighs 1.96 lb. Take out one bottle and the box now weighs 1.66 lb. All bottles weigh the same. Find the weight of the empty box.
Base-ten numbersMeasurement & data
Your answer
lb
How to solve
Strategy Work Backwards — The only difference between the two weighings is one bottle, so the drop in weight is exactly one bottle. Once one bottle is known, we work backwards from a weighing to peel off the bottles and leave the empty box.
1STEP 1

Find one bottle's weight from the change

Removing exactly one bottle made the weight fall from 1.96 lb to 1.66 lb. That drop is one bottle: 1.96 - 1.66 = 0.30 lb.

1.96 - 1.66 = 0.30 lb
2STEP 2

Find the weight of the 4 remaining bottles

After removing one bottle, 4 bottles remain in the box. Four bottles weigh 4 x 0.30 = 1.20 lb.

4 × 0.30 = 1.20 lb
3STEP 3

Subtract the bottles to leave the empty box

The 1.66 lb weighing is the box plus those 4 bottles. Take the bottles away: 1.66 - 1.20 = 0.46 lb is the empty box.

1.66 - 1.20 = 0.46 lb
Answer
0.46 lb
1.66 - 1.20 = 0.46 lb
Check the first weighing: box 0.46 + 5 bottles (5 x 0.30 = 1.50) = 1.96 lb, exactly as given. The empty box (0.46 lb) is lighter than the box with juice (1.96 lb), which makes sense.
Takeaway

The weight that vanished when you removed one bottle IS one bottle - then just subtract the bottles away!

  • Find one bottle's weight from the change
  • Find the weight of the 4 remaining bottles
  • Subtract the bottles to leave the empty box
Where next?
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▶ Practice — 10 problems