Grade
4

Mobile Math: Balanced Beams

Look at the mobile below. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Find the missing values so that the mobile is balanced.

A mobile is balanced and its total value is 96. The left side has 6 purple teardrops. The right side has two balanced branches. The left branch has 4 orange squares. The right branch has 1 orange square, 1 purple teardrop, and 1 red triangle. The shape values are unknown.

Suppose the value of the raindrop is 5. What values could the square and triangle have that would allow the mobile to be balanced?

A mobile is balanced and its total value is unknown. The left side has 6 purple teardrops. The right side has two balanced branches. The left branch has 4 orange squares. The right branch has 1 orange square, 1 purple teardrop, and 1 red triangle. Each teardrop has a value of 5. The other shape values are unknown.

The mobile is now unbalanced. The total value of the mobile is up to you. What values could each of the pieces have now?

A mobile is unbalanced, with the right side having a greater value than the left. The mobile's total value is unknown. The left side has 6 purple teardrops. The right side has two balanced branches. The left branch has 4 orange squares. The right branch has 1 orange square, 1 purple teardrop, and 1 red triangle. The shape values are unknown.
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Reference for Educators

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