Question

Rachel needs 5 1/2 yards of fabric to make curtains. She has a piece of fabric that is 1 1/4 yards and another that is 3 1/2 yards. How many more yards of fabric does she need?

Answer 1

Total length of 2 fabric Rachel has:

$1\frac{1}{4}+3\frac{1}{2}$

We change each number to mixed number and add after taking the common denominator. The process is shown below.

$\begin{gathered} 1\frac{1}{4}+3\frac{1}{2} \\ =\frac{5}{4}+\frac{7}{2} \\ =\frac{5+7(2)}{4} \\ =\frac{5+14}{4} \\ =\frac{19}{4} \end{gathered}$

She needs 5 and a half yards, that changed to a fraction with denominator 4 would enable us to compare. Let's change it

$\begin{gathered} 5\frac{1}{2} \\ =\frac{11}{2} \\ =\frac{11}{2}\times\frac{2}{2} \\ =\frac{22}{4} \end{gathered}$

She has 19/4 yards and she need 22/4 yards. Let's subtract to figure out how much more she needs.

$\begin{gathered} \frac{22}{4}-\frac{19}{4} \\ =\frac{3}{4} \end{gathered}$

The amount of more yards of fabric Rachel needs is:

$\frac{3}{4}\text{yards}$