Melvin's Reading Challenge: Math Puzzle Solved!

Hey everyone! Let's break down a fun little math puzzle about Melvin and his reading habits. We've got a scenario where Melvin reads a two-page story every day, except for Tuesdays and Saturdays. The big question is: how many stories does he conquer in 8 weeks? And even more interesting, which mathematical expression perfectly describes his reading routine?

Melvin's Literary Journey: Calculating Stories Read

So, let's dive into the heart of the matter: calculating how many stories Melvin reads in 8 weeks. First things first, we need to figure out how many days Melvin actually spends reading each week. We know he reads every day except Tuesday and Saturday. That means he reads on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Count 'em up, and that's a solid 5 days of reading per week. Now, here's where the magic of math comes in. We know Melvin reads for 5 days each week, and we want to know how many stories he reads over 8 weeks. A simple way to approach this is to think of each week as a unit. If he reads for 5 days in one week, then in 8 weeks, he'll read for 5 days/week multiplied by 8 weeks. This calculation gives us the total number of reading days. But wait, there's more! We also know that Melvin reads a two-page story each day. So, to find out the total number of stories he reads, we need to consider the number of days he reads and the number of stories he reads per day. This is where the expression 5 days/week * 8 weeks * 1 story/day comes into play. This expression tells us exactly how many stories Melvin reads over the entire 8-week period. To make it super clear, we're multiplying the number of reading days per week by the total number of weeks to get the total reading days. Then, we multiply that result by the number of stories Melvin reads each day. This step-by-step approach helps us understand not just the answer, but the logic behind it. Remember, math isn't just about crunching numbers; it's about understanding the relationships between them. In this case, we're seeing how the number of reading days, the number of weeks, and the stories read per day all connect to give us the final answer. By breaking down the problem into smaller, manageable steps, we can confidently solve even the trickiest math puzzles. This process of thinking through the problem, identifying the key information, and then applying the correct operations is what makes math so powerful and useful in real life.

Decoding the Expressions: Which One Fits Melvin's Story?

Now, let's play math detectives and decode the expressions to see which one perfectly captures Melvin's reading routine. We've got a couple of options here, and each one presents a different way of looking at the problem. Our mission is to identify the expression that accurately represents the steps we need to take to calculate the total number of stories Melvin reads. Remember, Melvin reads a two-page story every day, except on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and we want to know how many stories he reads in 8 weeks. So, let's break down each expression and see how it aligns with Melvin's reading habits.

First up, we have the expression $5 imes 2 imes 8=80$. This expression is intriguing, and it looks like it might be on the right track. The numbers 5, 2, and 8 are definitely relevant to our problem. The number 5 likely represents the number of days Melvin reads each week (since he skips Tuesdays and Saturdays). The number 2 could represent the two-page story he reads each day, and the number 8 represents the number of weeks we're considering. The multiplication signs suggest that we're combining these quantities in a way that could lead us to the total number of stories read. To really understand if this expression fits, let's think about what each part of the calculation represents. The 5 * 8 part would give us the total number of reading days over the 8 weeks. Then, multiplying that by 2 would give us the total number of