Let's solve each of these problems step by step and identify the
"trick" problem that is
not a multiplication problem.
---
1) A foot is about 30.5 cm. A basketball court is 50 ft wide. How many cm wide is this? How many meters wide?
-
Convert feet to centimeters:
$$
50 \text{ ft} \times 30.5 \text{ cm/ft} = 1525 \text{ cm}
$$
-
Convert cm to meters:
$$
1525 \text{ cm} \div 100 = 15.25 \text{ m}
$$
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
2) A sailfish can swim at speeds of 31.4 meters per second. How far could it travel in a minute?
- 1 minute = 60 seconds
- Distance = speed × time:
$$
31.4 \text{ m/s} \times 60 \text{ s} = 1884 \text{ meters}
$$
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
3) A pint is 568 ml. How many ml in a 2 gallons? How many liters is this?
Wait — we need to know how many pints are in a gallon.
- 1 gallon = 8 pints
- So, 2 gallons = 16 pints
Now convert to milliliters:
$$
16 \text{ pints} \times 568 \text{ ml/pint} = 9088 \text{ ml}
$$
Convert to liters:
$$
9088 \text{ ml} \div 1000 = 9.088 \text{ liters}
$$
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
4) A pair of scissors costs $2.59. How much would 12 pairs cost at this price?
$$
12 \times 2.59 = 31.08
$$
So, $31.08
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
5) An M&Ms chocolate packet contains 36 chocolate sweets. How many sweets in a multipack bag of 24 packets?
$$
36 \times 24 = 864 \text{ sweets}
$$
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
6) There are on average 154 words on each page of the book ‘How to Look after your Salamander’. The book contains 37 pages. How many words are there in the book?
$$
154 \times 37 = 5698 \text{ words}
$$
✔ Multiplication involved.
---
7) A cruise ship travels at 26 miles per hour. How many hours will it take to make a 416 mile journey?
This is a
division problem!
We use:
$$
\text{Time} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Speed}} = \frac{416}{26} = 16 \text{ hours}
$$
✘ NOT a multiplication problem!
This is the
trick problem — it requires
division, not multiplication.
---
✔ Final Answer:
The
trick problem is #7, because it involves
division, not multiplication.
---
🔍 Summary:
| Problem | Type | Is it multiplication? |
|--------|------------|------------------------|
| 1 | Conversion | Yes |
| 2 | Speed × Time | Yes |
| 3 | Unit conversion | Yes |
| 4 | Cost × Quantity | Yes |
| 5 | Multiplication | Yes |
| 6 | Words × Pages | Yes |
| 7 | Division (time = distance ÷ speed) |
✘ No |
>
✔ Answer: Problem 7 is the 'trick' problem — it is NOT a multiplication problem. It requires division.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of fifth grade word problems worksheet.
