Question

Robyn cut a length of ribbon into four pieces to wrap four gifts. The lengths she cut were 16 7/12 inches,10 3/12 inches, 4 9/12 inches, and 10 2/12 inches. If she used the whole ribbon, how long was her ribbon?

Answer 1

The length of the ribbon is $41\frac{3}{4}$ inches.

Solution:

Given that, Robyn cut a length of ribbon into four pieces to wrap four gifts

She used the whole ribbon

To find: length of ribbon

If she cuts the whole ribbon into four unequal pieces, then the length of the ribbon can be found by adding all the lengths.

Given lengths are: $16\frac{7}{12} \text{ inches } , 10\frac{3}{12} \text{ inches } , 4\frac{9}{12} \text{ inches} , 10\frac{2}{12} \text{ inches }$

The total length is given by:

Total length = add all lengths

$\text{Total length } = 16\frac{7}{12} +10\frac{3}{12} + 4\frac{9}{12} +10\frac{2}{12}$

We add the whole number parts separately and the fractional parts separately to get:

$\text{Total length } = (16+10+4+10) +(\frac{7}{12} + \frac{3}{12}+\frac{9}{12}+\frac{2}{12})\\\\\text{Total length} = 40 + \frac{21}{12} = 40+\frac{7}{4}\\\\\text{Total length } = 40 + 1\frac{3}{4} = 41\frac{3}{4}$

Thus total length of ribbon is $41\frac{3}{4}$ inches