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Comparing with multiplication: magic

Sal solves a multiplication comparison word problem with Harry Potter characters.   Created by Sal Khan.

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Video transcript

Ron and Hermione are practicing lifting feathers into the air with magic. Hermione can lift a feather 35 feet into the air, which is 5 times as high as Ron can lift a feather. How high can Ron lift a feather with his magic? So Hermione, this 35 feet is 5 times more than Ron. So to figure out what Ron can do, we just take what Hermione can do and divide by 5. So what's 35 divided by 5? Well, 5 times 7 is 35. So 35 divided by 5 is 7. So Ron can lift a feather 7 feet in the air. So let's check our answer. Now, if you have trouble with this-- and we could also look at the hints for this. So they show that Hermione can lift a feather 35 feet, which is 5 times higher than Ron. So this could be the length of how high Ron can raise it. And so, if you were to actually divide 35 into 5 equal sections, so 5 times question mark is 35, that's the same thing as saying 35 divided by 5 is question mark. And 35 divided by 5 is indeed 7.