Question

Sheila had 8 yards of fabric.she used 2 1/4 yards to make a dress.how much fabric does she have left?

Answer 1

Step 1 ) Create equation.

$\displaystyle\ 8 - 2\frac{1}{4}$

Step 2 ) Convert mixed number into improper fraction.

$\displaystyle\ 2 \frac{1}{4}$

↓

$\displaystyle\frac{9}{4}$

Step 3 ) Convert whole number to fraction.

8

↓

$\displaystyle\frac{8}{1}$

Step 4 ) Create new equation.

$\displaystyle\ 8 - 2\frac{1}{4}$

↓

$\displaystyle\frac{8}{1} - \frac{9}{4}$

Step 5 ) Re-write equation so that each have common denominators.

$\displaystyle\frac{32}{4} - \frac{9}{4}$

Step 6 ) Subtract the numerators.

$\displaystyle\frac{32}{4} - \frac{9}{4}$

↓

$\displaystyle\frac{23}{4}$

Bonus Step ) Convert to mixed fraction.

$\displaystyle\frac{23}{4}$

↓

$\displaystyle\ 5 \frac{3}{4}$

The answer is now in simplest form, this means the final amount of fabric left is..

$\displaystyle\ 5 \frac{3}{4}$

or it could also be...

$\displaystyle\frac{23}{4}$

Both are correct, the only difference is that one is in the simplest form.

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- Marlon Nunez

Answer 2

If Sheila started with 8 yards of fabric and used 2 1/4 yards, she will have the difference of these two values remaining. Subtract 2 1/4 from 8.

Convert the mixed fraction to an improper fraction. (Multiply its denominator by the whole number and replace the numerator with this new number.)

2 1/4 = 9/4

We now have:

8/1 - 9/4

Multiply 8/1 by 4/4 to get common denominators.

8/1 × 4/4 = 32/4

Now subtract.

32/4 - 9/4 = 23/4 = 5.75

Alternatively, we could have converted the fraction 2 1/4 to decimal form and subtracted it from 8.

2 1/4 = 2.25

8 - 2.25 = 5.75

Answer:

Sheila has 5.75 yards of fabric left.