Jen cut a piece of paper in half and threw away one half. She cut the remaining paper in half and threw away one half. She continued doing this until she had a piece of paper whose area was 1/32 as great as the area of the original piece of paper. How many cuts did she make?

llm

Answered on Wed May 25 2022

Letting the beginning area = 1 for a whole sheet,

Your basic function for the area is:

Area = 1/2c where c = # cuts made

Zero cuts A = 1/20 = 1

1 cut: A = 1/21= 1/2

2 cuts: A = 1/22 = 1/4

The equation you are solving is:

1/2x = 1/32

cross multiply

2c = 32

c=5