Answer:
3
Step-by-step explanation:
Wire is 4 1/2 feet, or 4.5 feet.
Each smaller wire needs to be 1 1/4 feet, or 1.25 feet.
How many whole 1.25 feet wire can we have from total of 4.5 feet wire?
Let's divide:
\[tex]\frac{4.5}{1.25}=3.6[/tex]
thus we can have 3 whole "1.25 feet long" wire and fractional amount.
Hence, maximum number of smaller pieces is 3
