Mrs. Flossi is hosting a trivia contest for 40 students and 25 staff members. To be fair, Mrs. Flossi wants there to be the same number of students and the same number of staff members on each team.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To divide 40 students and 25 staff members into teams with the same number of students and staff members per team, we must find the greatest number of teams such that both 40 and 25 can be evenly divided.
✅ Correct Answer: 5 teams
💡 Explanation
Mrs. Flossi wants to create teams for a trivia contest where each team has the same number of students and the same number of staff members. This means both the 40 students and the 25 staff members must be evenly divided among all the teams — no leftovers. So, we are looking for the greatest number of teams that evenly divides both 40 and 25.
This is a classic problem of finding the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD), also called the Greatest Common Factor (GCF).
Let’s find the GCF of 40 and 25:
- Factors of 40: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 40
- Factors of 25: 1, 5, 25
The greatest factor common to both 40 and 25 is 5.
So, the maximum number of teams that can be created where both the students and the staff are evenly divided is 5 teams.
Now, divide:
- Students: 40 ÷ 5 = 8 students per team
- Staff: 25 ÷ 5 = 5 staff members per team
This setup ensures each team has the same number of students and staff, and everyone is included.
This solution is fair because:
- Every team has the same number of people from each group.
- No one is left out.
- It uses the highest possible number of teams, ensuring smaller teams that promote better interaction.
In summary, Mrs. Flossi should create 5 teams with 8 students and 5 staff members on each team to be fair and efficient.
