Question 1164279
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A phrase like "6 times less than" is commonly used in everyday language; but in fact is is ALWAYS used incorrectly.<br>
"Product A is 3 times less expensive than product B."
"My new laptop takes 5 times less time to do a job than my old one."
etc., etc.  You hear it all the time.<br>
But it makes no logical sense.<br>
"less than" in a mathematical statement implies subtraction.<br>
So, given a number, for example 10, "6 times less than 10" means 10, minus 6 times 10, which is 10-60 = -50.<br>
In general, "6 times less than" a number n means n-6n = -5n.<br>
Clearly in this problem we are talking about positive numbers, in fact positive integers.  6 times less than a positive integer is a negative integer; and a negative integer is not valid for the number of hockey cards Kristie has.<br>
The only interpretation of the words "Kristie has six times less hockey cards than her brother Mark" that makes ANY sense is that she has one-sixth as many.<br>
But grammatically, that is not what the words say.<br>
The phrase "n times less than' should NEVER be used.<br>
Whenever you hear an advertisement for a product that uses the phrase, you can bet you are not hearing the true data.<br>
And whenever you see a math problem that uses the phrase, you can throw it in the trash bin.<br>