58. A mother is planning a birthday party for her son and she wants to give each child 15 balloons. There are 50 balloons in each packet she purchases. How many packets of balloons does she need to purchase for a party of 16 children?
Answer: C
The mother needs to purchase 5 packets of balloons for the party.
To determine the number of packets needed, first calculate the total number of balloons required for 16 children, each receiving 15 balloons, which equals 240 balloons. Since each packet contains 50 balloons, dividing 240 by 50 shows that 5 packets are needed.
A) 50
Option A is incorrect because purchasing 50 packets would provide an excessive number of balloons (2,500 balloons), far more than the 240 required for the party. This option does not align with the calculation based on the number of children and balloons per child.
B) 6
Option B is incorrect as it suggests purchasing 6 packets, which would provide 300 balloons (6 packets × 50 balloons each). While this is more than enough, the mother only needs 5 packets to meet the requirement of 240 balloons, making this choice unnecessarily excessive.
C) 5
Option C is correct because it accurately reflects the calculation needed to meet the balloon requirement. With 240 balloons needed and each packet containing 50 balloons, 5 packets (240 ÷ 50 = 4.8, rounded up to 5) perfectly satisfies the requirement for the party.
D) 17
Option D is incorrect as it suggests that 17 packets would be needed, resulting in 850 balloons. This number is significantly higher than the 240 balloons required for the 16 children, indicating a misunderstanding of the necessary calculations.
Conclusion
The correct answer is 5 packets, as this accurately meets the balloon needs for the birthday party. All other options either provide too many or too few balloons based on the calculations, demonstrating a clear understanding of the problem's requirements.