Erroneous question in university course module

Question

A friend of mine is working on a course for a teaching position. She asked for help with a course question and we both had a bit of trouble with the language so she emailed the course provider. The response she got was even more confusing. In the response below, they subtract 2/3 from the number of jugs of icing they made. However this 2/3 refers to the total volume of icing, so they seem to be subtracting items of a different unit right? Like if we say T is the total volume and J is jugs 17/12J = 3/3T. By subtracting 17/12 - 2/3 they aren't subtracting 2/3 of the total but in fact 2/3 of a jug not the total. Am I right in this assessment?

Answer 1

Please reach back to the Web site to say that there is a missing picture of a cup after the fraction $\frac{2}{3}$. The question and their answer make sense if the real question is:

• Rachel made $\frac{5}{6}$ cups of icing
• Milan made $\frac{7}{12}$ cups of icing
• They then used $\frac{2}{3}$ cups of (total) icing

This is the only way I can explain their expected answer $\frac{5}{6}+\frac{7}{12}-\frac{2}{3}=\frac{3}{4}$.

Answer 2

The question and answer are correct in the picture. It's about fraction addition and subtraction. They make the icing, combine their icing together, use some of it up and you have to find how much of the original icing they made is still left. The wording could be better though not gonna lie.

I see this as: the two people make icing, dump it all together in a big container, then they take out 2/3 of it from that big container and then you find how find how much is left in that big container. Hope this helps.