Question

Two students are solving 40 divided by 5:

• A. Both Smith and Ashley are correct.
• B. Both Smith and Ashley are incorrect.
• C. Ashley is correct, but Smith is incorrect.
• D. Smith is correct, but Ashley is incorrect.

Answer 1

The correct option is D Smith is correct, but Ashley is incorrect.

The representation of of '40 divided by 5' is $40÷5$.

Given,
Smith solves the question as:
$(20÷5)+(20÷5)$
Ashley solves the question as:
$(40÷2)+(40÷3)$

From the distributive property, only the dividend of a divison can be split as a sum of numbers.

$\therefore 40÷5=(20+20)÷5=(20÷5)+(20÷5)$

Hence, Smith is correct, but Ashley is incorrect.