Question

12. Snow fall for January was 11/2 inches less than average. In February snow fall was 13/4 inches less than average. How many inches below average was snow fall for both months?

Answer 1

1) Gathering the data

Snowfall January: x -1 1/2 '

Snowfall for Feb: x- 1 3/4'

2) Considering x, the average of snowfall.

Let's convert those mixed numbers to improper fractions:

1 1/2 = 3/2 1 3/4 = 7/4

To convert we keep the denominator, then we multiply the denominator by the whole number and add to the numerator:

$\begin{gathered} \text{ 1}\frac{1}{2}\text{ +1}\frac{3}{4}=0 \\ \text{ }\frac{3}{2}+\frac{7}{4}=0 \\ \frac{13}{4}\text{ = 3 }\frac{1}{4} \end{gathered}$

So in total, there was 3 1/4 inches below the average.