What Is Unit Price?

Mrs. Moore is going to buy cereals for her family. 🛒

She saw a sign that says 3 boxes for $6.60.

How much does each box cost? 🤔

The price for each box is called the unit price.

      Unit price is the cost for one unit of an item.

A unit can be a piece, a box, a kilogram, a pound, a meter, a foot, or even a slice. There are many types of units used when selling foods and other things.

What is the unit used for the example about cereals?

You got it, the unit is one box. 👏

Finding the Unit Price

What is the unit price of the cereal?

Divide the price on the tag by the number of boxes.

$6.60 ÷ 3 = ?

We use long division to solve this:

The unit price for each box of cereal is $2.20. ✅

Comparing Unit Prices

Mrs. Moore likes to save money, so she's looking for the best deals.

Knowing the unit price of items will help her get the best deals.

Mrs. Moore wants to buy juice.

She sees these offers:

Offer A: 12 bottles of juice at $27

Offer B: 10 bottles of juice at $24

How do we figure out the best deal for Mrs. Moore? 🤔

That's right. We find the unit price for the juice.

What's the "unit" for this juice?

Yes, the unit is the "bottle".

      To find the unit price, we divide the total price by the number of units.

Offer A:

$27 ÷ 12 = $2.25 per bottle

Offer B:

$24 ÷ 10 = $2.40 per bottle

Tip: Review how to divide decimals if you find the math above tricky.

Which shows the lowest price per bottle? 🤔

Yes, it's $2.25 for 1 bottle. ✅

So, Mrs. Moore should buy Offer A at 12 bottles for $27. 🎉 

She saves by buying in bulk.

Another Example

Mrs. Moore also wants to buy some milk.

One sign says 2 liters for $4.10.

Another sign says 1.5 liter for $3.45.

Which milk is the best deal?

To figure this out, we need to find the unit price.

      We find the unit price by dividing the total price by the number of units.

First option is:

$4.10 ÷ 2 liters = $2.05 per liter

Second option is:

$3.45 ÷ 1.5 liter = $2.30 per liter

Tip: We divide the money the same way we divide decimals.

Which is the best deal?

Yes, the best deal is $2.05 per liter. ✅

So, Mrs. Moore should buy the 2-liter bottle for $4.10. 

Great job. Now, try the practice. It's pretty fun.