Question

Ali wants to buy a piano. The piano measures 19/4 ft long. She has a space 5ft long for the piano in her house. Does she have enough room?

Answer 1

19/4 = 4 3/4 ft which is less than 5ft
Yes she has room

Answer 2

First, think about what you know.

The problem is giving you feet for both of the numbers, which is good for you on your part considering you have no measurements to convert.

You also know that you have 5 feet of space in your house to possibly hold a piano. If a piano is larger than five feet, you won't have enough room.

You also know that you can find out if a number is bigger by getting the number out of improper fraction form.

So, to solve this problem, remove the improper fraction. Change 19/4 into 4 3/4, instead. If unsure how to get out of improper fraction format, simply see how many times you can get four into 19. That would be your whole number. Then, let the left over number go over your original denominator. 

Four goes into nineteen 4 times. 4 x 4 is 16 and the leftover amount until 19 would be 3. ( 19 - 16 ) So, place 3/4 and you have 4 and 3/4.

- you could also turn into a decimal to solve instead -

Now, you realize that the piano is 4 3/4 ft long and you have 5 feet of space. The piano is smaller than your house space, and therefore, Ali does have enough room.