SKILL: MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS AND
WHOLE NUMBERS
How Big Is an Iceberg?
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In salt water, the part of an iceberg that is visible above water is
only 1/8 of the whole iceberg. The remaining 7/8 of the iceberg is
hidden under the water’s surface. You can use fractions to estimate
how much ice is underwater.
Example
An iceberg is made of 1000 cubic meters of ice. How much of
the ice is underwater?
_1
8
_7
8
Solution
(1) Write a word equation.
Volume of ice
underwater = volume of iceberg p fraction underwater
(2) Substitute.
7
8
Volume of ice underwater = 1000 m3 p (3) Multiply the numerator by the total volume.
1000 m3 p 7
= 8
(4) Calculate and simplify.
7000 m3
= = 875 m3
8
ANSWER About 875 cubic meters of ice are underwater.
Calculate how much ice is underwater.
1. The iceberg is made of 1600 cubic meters of ice.
2. The iceberg is made of 1800 cubic meters of ice.
3. The iceberg is made of 12,000 cubic meters of ice.
CHALLENGE About 500 cubic meters of an iceberg is visible
above the water. Estimate the total volume of the iceberg.
Chapter 2: The Water Planet 63