Question

Armani is hanging a picture. He wants to center it horizontally on the wall. The picture is 18 1/4 inches long, and the wall is 31 3/4 inches long. How far from the edge of the wall should he place the picture?

Answer 1

He should place the picture at 6.75 inches from the edge of the wall.  

Explanation

According to the below diagram, O is the center of the wall and AB is the distance of the picture from the edge of the wall.

As the length of the wall is $31\frac{3}{4}$ inches or 31.75 inches , so the half length of the wall $(OB)$ $=\frac{31.75}{2}=15.875$ inches.

Now, the length of the picture is $18\frac{1}{4}$ inches or 18.25 inches, so the half length of the picture $(OA)$ $= \frac{18.25}{2}=9.125$ inches.

Thus, $AB= OB-OA= 15.875-9.125=6.75$ inches

So, he should place the picture at 6.75 inches from the edge of the wall.