Mitchell is trying to chew as many pieces of gum at once as he can. He has 8 packets of gum, There are 7 pieces in each. If he chews all the gum except for 2 pieces, how many pieces does he chew at once?
Thoughts? Step-by-step reasoning:
The packets have 56 pieces in total because 8 x 7 = 56. He chews 54 pieces because 56 - 2 = 54.
Thus, the answer is 54.